Conservation Groups Plan to Sue Trump Over Attempts to Eliminate Protections for Threatened Species & Favor Corporate Interests Instead of Science

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Rulemakings are latest in series of attacks on Endangered Species Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Conservation groups notified the Trump administration of their plans to challenge two rulemakings weakening the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that were finalized today.

One rule deprives newly listed threatened animal and plant species from automatically receiving protections from killing, trapping, and other forms of prohibited “take” under the ESA. Species the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists as threatened could now be left unprotected for years. This applies to species awaiting a “threatened” designation, including the Florida manatee, Pygmy rabbit, Aztec Gilia, and Clover’s Cactus.

The other rule gives outsize weight to “economic considerations” when the federal government decides whether to protect endangered species and critical habitat. Green sea turtles, Monarch butterflies, polar bears, sage-grouse, and Texas hornshells, and the ‘iʻiwi bird are among numerous animal and plant species across the U.S. that could be impacted.

These two rules followed another rule — the first of the Trump administration’s attacks on the ESA — which could open the door to widespread destruction of habitat for endangered wildlife. That rule reverses a 50-year understanding that the ESA protects endangered wildlife from habitat destruction, and is already being challenged in court.

For the rule depriving newly listed threatened species, Earthjustice filed a notice of intent to sue on behalf of Sierra Club, National Parks Conservation Association, Conservation Council of Hawai‘i WildEarth Guardians, and Humane World for Animals. For the rule giving outsize weight to “economic considerations”, Earthjustice filed a notice of intent to sue on behalf of Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, Defenders of Wildlife, National Parks Conservation Association, Sierra Club, and WildEarth Guardians.

“The Trump administration is attempting to reshape the Endangered Species Act to make its protections for America’s most vulnerable wildlife weaker and harder to secure,” said Ben Greuel, National Wildlife Campaign Manager at the Sierra Club. “These recent changes aim to leave vulnerable species exposed to greater threats and make it more difficult to protect the habitat essential to their survival and recovery. We are prepared to go to court to defend the law and the wildlife it protects.”

“Over the past few weeks, the Trump administration has launched a barrage against endangered species across the country,” said Earthjustice senior attorney Elizabeth Forsyth. “These latest attacks, which strip threatened species of protections and prioritize industry interests over science, will further risk sending our imperiled plants and animals toward extinction. These attacks on the Endangered Species Act are foolhardy and illegal, and the Trump administration will be hearing from us in court.”

“By stripping protections from the places where imperiled species live, the Trump administration is fanning the flames of the extinction crisis,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Both threatened and endangered species need strong habitat protections to have any chance at survival.”

“This is the latest in a string of devastating attacks by this administration on our nation’s endangered wildlife,” said Ryan Shannon, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife. “Again we’re seeing this administration weaken protections for habitat, even though habitat loss is a leading extinction threat. These attacks all have one thing in common: they show that there is nothing this administration will not do to prioritize corporate interests over the interests of imperiled wildlife in the midst of an extinction crisis.” 

“These recent attacks are a recipe for biodiversity loss and extinction,” said Joanna Zhang, endangered species advocate at WildEarth Guardians. “Threatened species will be left vulnerable to being harmed by extractive industry with a new license to bulldoze critical habitat. We are taking this fight to court because putting profit and partisanship above the survival of wildlife on the brink of extinction is both reckless and unlawful.”

“NPCA rejects the Trump administration’s proposed rules, which gut ESA protections and threaten America’s conservation legacy in favor of near-term economic gain,” said Bart Melton, senior wildlife program director for the National Parks Conservation Association. “These rules will fast-track timber cuts, mines, and oil and gas drilling and weaken science, conservation, and species recovery. The administration’s changes, coupled with the mass downsizing of staff at US Fish and Wildlife and the National Park Service, puts the fate of America’s next great species recovery efforts at risk.”

“For half a century, the Endangered Species Act has prevented the extinction of America’s most vulnerable wildlife, providing essential protections before species reach the point of no return,” said Kitty Block, president and CEO of Humane World for Animals (formerly called Humane Society of the United States). “Yet, the reckless decision by the Trump administration to eliminate the blanket 4(d) rule is a misguided favor solely to serve special interests seeking fewer safeguards, not the wildlife species whose very survival depends on this longstanding, effective law that is supported by millions of Americans.”

Background

President Trump has now attacked the Endangered Species Act three times into his second administration. And more are expected this fall. These attempts to weaken the bedrock environmental law come at a time when biodiversity in the U.S. is facing a worsening crisis, with over one-third of plant and animal species at risk of disappearing.

The Trump administration has sought to erode the ESA in other ways as well, by illegally exempting all oil-and-gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico from having to comply with the law, an action that has the potential to wipe out two dozen marine species including whales and sea turtles. And last week, the Trump administration announced moves that could lead to the killing of grizzlies across the U.S.

Meanwhile, as the Trump administration has weakened the ESA, it has also fired the federal workers responsible for protecting endangered species and managing ecosystems across the country.

These attacks on a law that has saved 99% of species under its protection from going extinct — including bald eagles, American bison, and humpback whales — are politically unpopular: more than four out of five Americans support the ESA.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.

Featured image from Robbie King (free to use, via Pexels).