The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed a rule to redefine what it means to \u201charm\u201d a protected species under the Endangered Species Act, a move conservationists say will strip vulnerable plants and animals of habitat they need to survive.<\/p>\n
The proposal advanced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service would limit the meaning to taking direct action to kill or injure endangered or threatened wildlife \u2014 removing the prohibition against habitat destruction that leads to those ends. It fits with White House officials\u2019 intent to spur economic growth by slashing regulations.<\/p>\n
If adopted, the change could significantly curtail the reach of the Endangered Species Act, passed in 1973 under former President Nixon. It would also flout a 1995 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the definition of harm to encompass \u201csignificant habitat modification or degradation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat they\u2019re proposing will just fundamentally upend how we\u2019ve been protecting endangered species in this country,\u201d said Noah Greenwald, co-director of endangered species at the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation group.<\/p>\n
According to Greenwald, the previous definition prevented acts like cutting down swaths of old-growth forests in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest where federally threatened northern spotted owls nest and roost. Or filling in a wetland inhabited by red-legged frogs, California\u2019s state amphibian also listed as federally threatened.<\/p>\n
Under the proposed meaning, it would take something like the actual shooting of an owl to qualify, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there would just be a lot more room for timber companies to log their habitat without concern,\u201d he said. Given the owls\u2019 precipitous decline in recent decades, \u201cthis potentially could be the nail in the coffin,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The concept of harm in the Endangered Species Act is wrapped up in its prohibition of \u201ctake,\u201d which means \u201cto harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect\u201d a species protected by the law.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis makes sense in light of the well-established, centuries-old understanding of \u2018take\u2019 as meaning to kill or capture a wild animal,\u201d the FWS and NMFS wrote in proposing the revision, adding that current regulations \u201cdo not match the single, best meaning of the statute.\u201d<\/p>\n
Publishing the proposed rule in the Federal Register \u2014 set for Thursday \u2014 triggers a 30-day public comment period. Once the public comments are analyzed, a final rule could be issued in a matter of months.<\/p>\n
If the change is made, Greenwald said his group would challenge it in court.<\/p>\n
The proposed change comes amid a flurry of actions by the Trump administration to push for more development and resource extraction on public lands, which conservationists believe will harm wildlife, among other deleterious effects.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, the Trump administration ordered the immediate expansion of timber production in the U.S. It was followed by an emergency declaration by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins mandating the U.S. Forest Service to open up roughly 112.5 million acres of national forestland to logging.<\/p>\n
A February order by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum directed his staff to review and possibly alter national monuments as part of a push to expand U.S. energy production.<\/p>\n
This article<\/a> by Lila Seidman was first published by The LA Times on 16 April 2025.\u00a0 Lead Image: In this June 1995, file photo a Northern Spotted owl sits on a branch in Point Reyes, Calif. Wildlife officials say the northern spotted owl has been listed under the California Endangered Species Act. A federal judge on July 5, 2022, threw out a host of actions by the Trump administration to roll back protections for endangered or threatened species, a year after the Biden administration said it was moving to strengthen those species protections. (AP Photo\/Tom Gallagher, File).<\/i><\/p>\n Wildlife continues to face threats, which include hunting, poaching, illegal trade in animal products, habitat loss as well as a rapidly changing climate.<\/p>\n Become a Wildlife Champion by supporting our conservation partners<\/a> with a monthly donation as little as $1.<\/p>\nWhat you can do<\/h2>\n