{"id":342007,"date":"2026-07-16T10:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T10:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/342007\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T10:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T10:18:11","slug":"new-federal-rule-could-ramp-up-risks-for-sea-turtles-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/342007\/","title":{"rendered":"New federal rule could ramp up risks for sea turtles in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new federal rule that stands to dramatically weaken Endangered Species Act protections is drawing serious concern from conservation groups in Central Florida and beyond.<\/p>\n

The rule announced Friday<\/a> is all about one key word: \u201charm.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: Environmental groups sue government to stop a big change to the Endangered Species Act<\/a><\/p>\n

For decades, federal agencies overseeing the ESA have understood \u201charm\u201d to include the destruction and degradation of habitat for plant and animal species protected by the law. But the new federal rule<\/a> rescinds that definition.<\/p>\n

Effectively, that means moving forward, the ESA will only prohibit the killing or harming of animals or plants specifically. The new rule eliminates protection against the destruction of those species\u2019 habitat, said Endangered Species Coalition National Policy Director Jewel Tomasula.<\/p>\n

In Florida, home to the vast majority of the nation\u2019s sea turtle nesting activity, the new rule will remove regulatory barriers for industry projects posing risks to those turtle nests.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The] entity might not be specifically killing the sea turtles or their eggs,\u201d Tomasula said. \u201cBut they’re taking away what is known as that crucial nesting habitat, or that generational nesting habitat on the beach for a sea turtle. That’s harming them. And so that’s what that definition captured that is now being disregarded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Environmental groups have already challenged the new rule in a lawsuit filed this week.<\/p>\n

Clawing back ‘federal overreach’<\/p>\n

The new rule takes effect Sept. 14. According to the U.S. Departments of Commerce and the Interior, it is a common-sense change that \u201cwill end years of federal overreach,\u201d and better protect private property rights.<\/p>\n

Environmental advocates argue habitat protection doesn\u2019t weaken the economy \u2013 it actually fuels it. Stacey Gallagher is policy coordinator for the Sea Turtle Conservancy<\/a>, a Gainesville-based nonprofit that advocates for the protection of sea turtles across Florida and the Caribbean.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Florida is a perfect example of how our economy is our environment,\u201d Gallagher said. \u201cIf we do not have a safe, healthy, thriving environment, we have no economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Flickr<\/p>\n

This hatchling is a young leatherback sea turtle, an endangered species and the world\u2019s largest, deepest-diving turtle.<\/p>\n

Sea turtles are just one example: people love to see and learn about them, whether in the water or nesting on Florida beaches. Tourists and residents alike will pay for nighttime turtle walks on the beach, led by certain, permitted groups<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When protections for plant and animal species also safeguard the habitat those species need to survive, it allows people and ecotourism industries to enjoy that habitat, too, Gallagher said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople do not come to Florida for the built environment. They come to Florida to be on the water, to be at our beaches, at our springs, hiking. They want to be outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘The long, slow process’ of species recovery<\/p>\n

Sea turtles face lots of threats like oil spills, disorientation caused by artificial lighting and habitat loss driven by factors like sea level rise and the construction of seawalls and other \u201chard armoring\u201d techniques to stabilize shorelines. (By Jan. 1, a new law<\/a> directs Florida to develop standards for alternative, nature-based coastal resiliency strategies, like living shorelines.)<\/p>\n

RELATED: Shorebirds in Florida are losing habitat. Living shorelines are part of the solution<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Molly Duerig<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Central Florida Public Media<\/p>\n

Cement jute wave breaks designed for erosion protection are part of a living shoreline project in the Mosquito Lagoon.<\/p>\n

Over time, though, the 53-year-old Endangered Species Act has helped sea turtle populations weather and bounce back from some of those threats. It\u2019s a success story playing out on a global scale, Gallagher said.<\/p>\n

Last year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature<\/a> downlisted green sea turtles to a \u201cspecies of least concern,\u201d indicating that populations are rebounding to healthier levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of that was because of the incredible nesting numbers that we’re seeing in the United States,\u201d thanks to the ESA\u2019s protections, Gallagher said.<\/p>\n

But the progress didn\u2019t happen overnight. Species recovery is a \u201clong, slow process,\u201d Gallagher said \u2014 something especially true for \u201clong-lived\u201d species like sea turtles, which mature slowly.<\/p>\n

In the long-term, though, environmental protections like the ESA\u2019s can make a real, positive difference: one finally playing out in Florida, Gallagher said. She cited data shared Wednesday by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission\u2019s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.<\/p>\n

So far this year, loggerhead turtles are having \u201can outstanding season,\u201d with more than 94,000 nests documented statewide, according to the agency\u2019s social media post. That number puts the species on track to break records this year.<\/p>\n

Leatherback turtles could also break their nesting season record in Florida, with more than 2,000 nests tracked so far this year.<\/p>\n

\"Loggerhead<\/p>\n

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Facebook<\/p>\n

Loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles are on track for a potentially record-breaking nesting year in Florida, according to preliminary numbers shared this week by FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.<\/p>\n

But more turtles also means more turtles facing pronounced threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cWeakening protections for sea turtles right now, Gallagher said, \u201cis the last thing that we should be doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of several proposals<\/p>\n

The new rule rescinding federal agencies\u2019 previous definition of \u201charm\u201d isn\u2019t the only proposal to change the ESA.<\/p>\n

For example, proposed legislation<\/a> to overhaul the law remains in limbo, after being pulled from the House floor earlier this year. The proposal was yanked from the schedule following widespread outcry from members of the public and lawmakers, including some Republican lawmakers.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican representing Florida District 13, made a social media post in April appearing to criticize legislation proposed to overhaul the Endangered Species Act.<\/p>\n

Changing the ESA law itself would be more difficult \u2014 and permanent \u2014 than the pending rule change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a relatively quicker way. It’s also a relatively less permanent way,\u201d Tomasula said.<\/p>\n

Tomasula, Gallagher and other conservation advocates encourage anyone concerned about the future of the ESA to contact their elected representatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new federal rule that stands to dramatically weaken Endangered Species Act protections is drawing serious concern from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-342007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}