Absurd and heartbreaking: Trump takes steps to destroy protections for endangered species. Again.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration moved Wednesday to roll back protections for endangered species and the places they live, reviving a series of changes to Endangered Species Act regulations from the Republican’s first term that were blocked under former Democratic President Joe Biden.
The proposed changes include eliminating the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s “general rule” that automatically protects animals and plants when they are classified as threatened. Instead, government agencies would have to develop species-specific protection rules, a potentially lengthy process.
The administration’s announcement responds to long-standing calls for a review of the Endangered Species Act from Republicans in Congress and from industries such as oil and gas, mining and agriculture. Critics argue that the landmark 1973 environmental law has been used too broadly, to the detriment of economic growth.
But environmentalists warned that the changes could cause years-long delays in efforts to save species such as the monarch butterfly, the Florida manatee, the California spotted owl and the North American wolverine.
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“We would have to wait until these poor animals are almost extinct before we can start protecting them. That’s absurd and heartbreaking,” said Stephanie Kurose of the Center for Biological Diversity.
Scientists and government agencies say extinctions are accelerating globally due to habitat loss and other pressures.
Trump has made oil and gas production a centerpiece of his presidency and has sought to eliminate environmental regulations that impede development. Other pending administration proposals would revise the definition of “damage” under the Endangered Species Act and potentially circumvent species protections for logging projects on national forests and public lands.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement that the administration was restoring the Endangered Species Act to its original intent while respecting “the livelihoods of Americans who depend on our land and resources.”
“These revisions put an end to years of legal confusion and regulatory overreach, providing certainty to states, tribes, landowners, and businesses, while ensuring that conservation efforts remain based on sound science and common sense,” Burgum said in a statement.
Another proposed change tasks officials with analyzing economic impacts when deciding whether habitat is critical to the survival of a species.
The case of the lizard shows the possible result of the proposals
The case of the Yarrow spiny lizard in the southwest exemplifies the potential consequences of the proposals. Rapidly rising temperatures have devastated a population of lizards in Arizona’s Mule Mountains, pushing the reptiles further up the mountain slopes toward higher peaks and possibly toward extinction.
A petition filed Wednesday seeks protection for the lizard and critical habitat designation. Advocates say analyzing economic impacts could delay protections. Designating critical habitat could be another hurdle because the main threat to this spiny lizard population is climate change.
“We think the species should be listed as endangered. In fact, we’re a little surprised that it’s not already extinct,” said John Wiens, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, who co-authored the petition.
The Department of the Interior was sued over the blanket protection rule in March by the Property and Environmental Research Center (PERC) and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The two groups argued that the rule was illegal and discouraged states and landowners from assisting species recovery efforts.
Species designated as “threatened” under the rule automatically qualify for the same protections as those with the more severe “endangered” designation.
PERC Vice President Jonathan Wood said Wednesday’s proposal was a “necessary course correction.”
“This reform recognizes the illegality of the general rule and puts recovery back at the center of the Endangered Species Act,” Wood said.
Proposals would undermine protections, critic says
Kristen Boyles of the environmental law firm Earthjustice said the changes undermine protections even more than in Trump’s first term. That includes allowing the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to not count negative effects on species if those impacts are not regulated by the agencies themselves, Boyles said.
“The Services must prevent harmful consequences for species, not ignore them,” he said.
Trump officials during his first term also revoked protections for individual species, including the northern spotted owl and gray wolf.
The spotted owl decision was reversed in 2021 after officials said Trump’s political appointees used flawed scientific data to justify opening millions of acres of West Coast forests to potential logging. A federal court restored protections for wolves in most of the US in 2022.
The Endangered Species Act protects more than 1,600 species in the United States and its territories. It is credited with helping save the bald eagle, the California condor, and many more animals and plants from extinction since Republican President Richard Nixon signed it into law.
Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque.
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