The Trump administration has finalized a rule that fundamentally reshapes how the Endangered Species Act protects wildlife, removing long-standing safeguards that prevented development, logging, and mining in critical animal habitats.
For five decades, the landmark environmental law interpreted "harm" broadly to shield not just endangered species themselves but also the places essential to their survival. The Supreme Court upheld this approach in 1995 when it defended old-growth forest protections for endangered spotted owls. That interpretation is now gone.
The Department of Interior and Department of Commerce have rescinded the habitat protection rule, reframing it as "regulatory intrusion that interfered with private property rights." The move came despite hundreds of thousands of public comments opposing the change and consistent polling showing Americans want strong species protections.
Habitat destruction stands as the primary driver of species extinction. The Endangered Species Act has prevented 99% of listed species from going extinct over its history, most notably saving the bald eagle from extinction. Scientists warn the new rule could trigger catastrophic losses for animals already on the brink.
"For the first time ever, a presidential administration now claims that species protected by the Endangered Species Act shouldn't be safe from habitat modification that destroys where they live, raise their young, or search for food," said Kristen Boyles, an attorney with Earthjustice.
The Center for Biological Diversity's Stephanie Kurose called the plan "a death sentence for wolverines, monarch butterflies, Florida manatees and so many other animals and plants that desperately need our help" when the proposal was first released last year.
The reversal arrives as the planet faces an extinction emergency. A 2019 global assessment found roughly 1 million species threatened with extinction, including about 40% of amphibians and a third of reef-forming corals, marine mammals, and sharks. Insect populations have declined dramatically, with about 80% of insect species not yet identified and some vanishing before science can name them.
Damage to habitat can trigger cascading ecological collapse, where losing one species leads to the extinction of others dependent on it. Public support for habitat protection runs deep: a 2023 poll showed 80% of registered voters favored full funding of the Endangered Species Act and 73% view biodiversity as important to their daily lives.
Trump administration officials justify the change by claiming the original law never intended broad habitat protection. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the previous rules "turned routine activity into a regulatory trap" and that officials accused federal agencies of using the law to "obstruct lawful land use and burden American families and businesses." The administration stated that "actions that directly injure or kill listed wildlife will continue to be prohibited."
The habitat rule change fits into a larger deregulatory agenda. Trump has prioritized dismantling endangered species protections to expand energy extraction and industrial access to vulnerable natural areas. In March, he convened the so-called "God squad," a group tasked with deciding a species' fate, to expand oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico. At the start of his second term, Trump appointed senior federal officials to find ways to sidestep Endangered Species Act rules that obstruct energy infrastructure.
Conservation groups are preparing legal challenges. "There is no support for the Trump Administration's rule, no scientific support, no legal support, no public support," Boyles said. "We will see the Trump Administration in court."
Author James Rodriguez: "This move guts 50 years of proven species recovery in service of industrial access, and the legal battles ahead will be fierce."
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