The Trump administration on Wednesday initiated the reversal of protections for threatened species and their habitats, proposing a series of changes to the rules that implement the Endangered Species Act. The move is a revival of changes that were made during President Donald Trump’s first term but were eventually blocked by the Biden administration.
According to an announcement by the Interior Department, the reversals would include the elimination of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s “blanket rule” that protects animals and plant life as soon as they are designated as threatened. Federal agencies would instead be required to establish species-specific protection regulations, which would likely require a substantial amount of time.
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The move follows repeated requests from Republicans and fossil fuel and agricultural companies to revise the Endangered Species Act.
The act was adopted in 1973 and is credited with saving 99% of species listed as endangered. Those include the bald eagle, whooping cranes, peregrine falcons and American alligators, according to the Interior Department.
Trump’s frustration with environmental rules
Trump has expressed frustration with the act and other environmental protections, arguing some are harming economic growth with overburdensome regulations.
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The Endangered Species Act protects more than 1,600 species across the U.S. and its territories.
Environmentalists contend that the administration’s changes will cause significant delays to species-saving efforts, including revitalizing habitats and populations for the monarch butterfly, Florida manatee, California spotted owl and North American wolverine.
Biologists also say the rule changes come at an unprecedented time of species extinction that is a result of climate change and loss of habitat from human development.
As he has pushed for more oil and gas production, Trump has sought to rescind a number of environmental regulations on fossil fuel companies.
Change to definition of ‘harm’
The Trump administration also wants to change the definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act in an attempt to get past species protections to expand logging operations to national forests and public lands.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum suggested in a statement that the administration is reestablishing the Endangered Species Act to be in line with its initial goal while protecting “Americans who depend on our land and resources.”
“These revisions end years of legal confusion and regulatory overreach, delivering certainty to states, tribes, landowners and businesses while ensuring conservation efforts remain grounded in sound science and common sense,” Burgum said.
An additional change would reportedly require officials to assess economic impacts when determining whether certain habitats are vital to a species’ continued survival.
A White House source told CBS News earlier this year that Trump intended to modify the Endangered Species Act to facilitate building in the habitats of endangered species. The president subsequently ordered energy and environmental regulators to allow a number of environmental protections to expire, along with other measures to pull back on environmental rules to encourage construction and economic expansion.
PERC celebrates move
Property and Environmental Research Center (PERC), which sued the Interior Department in March over the Endangered Species Act blanket protection rule, applauded the proposed changes.
“This reform acknowledges the blanket rule’s unlawfulness and puts recovery back at the heart of the Endangered Species Act,” PERC vice president Jonathan Wood said Wednesday. He called the changes a “necessary course correction” by the federal government.
Environmentalists express concerns
Environmentalists warn that the changes further endanger threatened species after critical protections were rescinded during Trump’s first term.
Kristin Boyles with the environmental law firm Earthjustice told CBS that the proposed changes direct the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to discount negative impacts to endangered species while limiting their ability to fight negative effects to wildlife.
“The services are required to prevent harmful consequences to species, not ignore them,” she told CBS.
During Trump’s first term, his administration eliminated protections for species such as the gray wolf and northern spotted owl. Those protections were later reestablished for both species.
