The Trump administration moved on Wednesday to roll back Biden-era protections for endangered species and their habitats.<\/p>\n
The Interior Department\u2019s Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA\u2019s National Marine Fisheries Service proposed restoring rules from the first Trump administration that stripped safeguards for plants and animals threatened by human development and a warming planet.<\/p>\n
Specifically, it lets economic factors be a main point when considering which endangered species merit protection under the longstanding environmental law. The two agencies also proposed to strip the so-called \u201cblanket rule\u201d, which extends endangered-level protections to species that are listed as \u201cthreatened\u201d with extinction.<\/p>\n
That blanket rule had been challenged in federal court by property rights groups, but that litigation had paused as the Trump administration rewrote the rule. The rule will now undergo a 30-day public comment period before it is finalized.<\/p>\n
Trump administration officials defended their proposal as common sense. Industry groups have complained for years that environmental laws have become too restrictive for major energy, mining and development projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis administration is restoring the Endangered Species Act to its original intent, protecting species through clear, consistent and lawful standards that also respect the livelihoods of Americans who depend on our land and resources,\u201d Interior Sec. Doug Burgum said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Environmental groups decried the move as one that could be devastating for endangered and threatened species.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy promoting drilling, mining, bulldozing, logging and development at the expense of habitat, this administration will push America\u2019s beloved wildlife species further from recovery and closer to extinction,\u201d Defenders of Wildlife senior attorney Jane Davenport said in a statement. \u201cThreatened species like the Florida manatee could easily lose the recovery gains they have made and decline further towards endangered status.\u201d<\/p>\n
And environmental advocates argued there is strong public support for protecting environmental species.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump\u2019s attacks on the Endangered Species Act seriously misread the room,\u201d Earthjustice attorney Kristen Boyles said in a statement. \u201cMost people are not going to allow the sacrifice of our natural world to a bunch of billionaires and corporate interests.\u201d<\/p>\n