Defending the Endangered Species Act

In the four decades since the Endangered Species Act became law, 99% of species protected under the Endangered Species Act have not perished.

Case Overview

The Endangered Species Act is one of the most visionary and effective environmental laws ever enacted. It requires all federal agencies to consult with expert federal wildlife agencies to ensure that their actions will not harm endangered species and, when necessary, to develop project alternatives that will mitigate any possible harm to endangered species.

Consultation has been the Act’s most effective and successful safeguard by, for example, keeping factory trawlers out of Steller sea lion rookeries, establishing minimum flows for salmon in the Klamath River, and reforming management of the Northwest forests to protect the northern spotted owl and other old-growth dependent species.

At the end of the George W. Bush administration, in a last-ditch attempt to weaken the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service enacted a rule that drastically reduced one of the core protections of the law — eliminating the consultation requirement in a wide range of circumstances, which would have reduced protections for imperiled species. Earthjustice filed a lawsuit challenging the rule in a federal district court in California. Before the rule could take effect, the incoming Obama administration rescinded it.

During the Trump administration, Earthjustice, on behalf of our clients, filed several lawsuits challenging new regulations that directly undermine the Endangered Species Act’s purpose to prevent extinction and promote recovery. Among other things, the new regulations allow consideration of economic factors in decisions about whether species are listed as threatened or endangered, strip newly listed threatened species of automatic protection, weaken protection of species’ critical habitat, and relax consultation standards that are meant to ensure federal agencies avoid jeopardizing species’ survival.

A manatee calf with its mother at Three Sisters Springs in Florida.
A manatee calf with its mother at Three Sisters Springs in Florida. Manatees are a threatened species protected under the Endangered Species Act. (James R.D. Scott / Getty Images)

Case Updates

March 28, 2024 In the News: CNN

Biden administration strengthens Endangered Species Act protections weakened under Trump

Drew Caputo, VP of Litigation for Lands, and Wildlife, Oceans: “There’s a climate crisis and there’s also a biodiversity crisis. I think a lot of people think the climate crisis is the main driver of the biodiversity crisis — that’s not true. It’s habitat destruction.”

A lone gray wolf howls in the woods of the the upper Midwest
March 28, 2024 Press Release

Earthjustice Responds to Biden Administration’s Final Endangered Species Act Rulemaking 

Biden administration falls short of fully restoring ESA

A Mexican gray wolf.
January 26, 2024 Action Alert

Restore the Endangered Species Act

For 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has served as the last line of defense for countless species and habitats. Today, it is our strongest tool for tackling the worsening biodiversity crisis, and now the Biden administration is weighing regulations that could fully restore the Act to its full potential.