Earthjustice Responds to Another Trump Administration Attack on Endangered Species

The Trump administration today proposed yet another set of rule revisions in its quest to weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and limit the law’s effectiveness.

In general, the proposed rules would:

• Deprive newly listed threatened animal and plant species from automatically receiving protections from killing, trapping, and other forms of prohibited “take.” Species now proposed for listing, like the Florida manatee, California spotted owl, Greater sage grouse, and Monarch butterfly could be left unprotected for years even after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalizes the listings.
• Narrow the definition of “critical habitat” to exclude currently unoccupied but historic habitat. Historic habitat is vital for recovery of imperiled species, especially as the areas where they currently live shrink due to the rapidly changing climate and the chain effects of ongoing biodiversity loss.
• Loosen compliance measures for federal agencies to make it easier to greenlight destructive actions, like logging or drilling, that put a protected species in harm’s way.
• Violate the letter of the law by allowing “economic considerations” in decisions about whether to protect species that are scientifically shown to be at risk of extinction. With this rule, the federal government could decide against protecting an endangered species after considering lost revenue from prohibiting a golf course or hotel development to be built where the species lives.

In response, Earthjustice attorney Kristen Boyles issued the following statement:

“For decades, the vast majority of Americans have supported strong protections for our wildlife — from bald eagles to polar bears to Pacific Northwest salmon. Trump’s attacks on the Endangered Species Act seriously misread the room. Most people are not going to allow the sacrifice of our natural world to a bunch of billionaires and corporate interests.”

The public will have 30 days to issue comments on the proposed rules.

Background

These proposed regulations follow a series of other attacks on the ESA and wildlife by the second Trump administration. The White House also proposed reversing a 50-year understanding of the statute that could open the door to widespread destruction of habitat for threatened and endangered wildlife. This change may be finalized soon, even though it has been met with fierce public and scientific opposition.

President Trump is also talking about a committee of his own appointees to effectively decide the fate of endangered species for projects whose approvals would otherwise violate the law. President Trump issued an executive order on the first day of his new term declaring an “energy emergency” that specifically named the ESA, setting up an effort to eventually subvert the law in the name of fossil fuel extraction and private corporate interests.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has spent the year gutting staff at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agencies tasked with protecting endangered species and conducting the crucial research about American wildlife.