July 10 (UPI) — The Trump administration on Friday rescinded a key provision of the Endangered Species Act that protected habitat crucial to imperiled wildlife.
For 50 years, the ESA definition of “harm” included not only specific species, but also their habitat from modification or degradation.
But on Friday, the administration said it was reversing the rule to focus on “actions that directly injure or kill listed wildlife.”
“For years, federal agencies abused the ESA to obstruct lawful land use and burden American families and businesses,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.
“That approach turned routine activity into a regulatory trap, drove up costs that impacted people’s lives, and expanded federal authority beyond what Congress intended,” Burgum said. “This action restores common sense, respects private property, provides much-needed certainty for landowners and follows the statute Congress actually passed.”
Enacted in 1973, the ESA has played a vital role in maintaining biodiversity.
Conservation experts say the act was key in saving many species from extinction, including the whooping crane, bald eagle and gray wolf.
Environmental advocates have vowed to sue over the rule change.
“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,” Earthjustice attorney Kristen Boyles said in a statement.
“Let’s be clear: there is no support for the Trump administration’s rule — no scientific support, no legal support, no public support,” Boyles added. “We will see the Trump administration in court.”