Trump administration weakens endangered species protections

President Donald Trump's administration has finalized a regulation that would curtail protections for the habitat of species at risk of extinction, marking a significant rollback to the Endangered Species Act. The final rule, announced on Friday, rescinds a 1981 regulatory definition that prohibited actions that would significantly harm the habitat of protected species. The administration stated this definition was an "unlawful intrusion that interfered with private property rights."

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the action "restores common sense, respects private property, provides much-needed certainty for landowners and follows the statute Congress actually passed." The US Interior Department indicated the change would reduce "unnecessary" permitting and "eliminate confusion" for landowners, energy companies, farmers, and local governments. Environmental groups are preparing legal challenges, arguing the rollback will increase the likelihood of species extinction by removing habitat protections. The revised interpretation still prohibits directly harming or killing wildlife but ends protections that would limit development on remaining habitat.

The US Supreme Court previously sided with regulators in 1995, stating that a prohibition against "harm" extended to a species' habitat. However, the Trump administration's proposed rule last year argued this was not the best interpretation of the law, leading to the repeal of that definition. Earlier this year, the administration exempted offshore oil and gas operations in the US Gulf of Mexico from Endangered Species Act compliance, citing national security concerns.