Panthers, Owls, and More at Risk Under Trump Administration’s Proposed Changes for Endangered Species

• The Trump administration proposed changing the interpretation of the Endangered Species Act to allow developers to alter the habitats of endangered species like panthers, sea turtles, and owls
• The current law prevents people from doing anything to “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect” endangered plants and animals, including habitat destruction
• Critics say the change could be detrimental to hundreds of species

A new proposal from the Trump administration would significantly limit the Endangered Species Act’s power to preserve animal habitats.

On Wednesday, April 16, the administration proposed changing the U.S. law to prohibit only actions that directly hurt or kill animals themselves, not the habitats they rely on, per reports from NPR, The Associated Press, and The Washington Post.

If the changes are enacted, it could make it easier for developers to log, mine, and build on land where endangered species live.

“Habitat loss is the biggest single cause of extinction and endangered species — it makes sense to address it,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, per NPR.

“Any conservation gains species were making will be reversed — we’re going to see losses again,” Hartl added, calling deniers of this fact “callous and reckless.”

President Donald Trump’s administration has taken issue with the word “harm” as it’s used in the Endangered Species Act, which has been interpreted to mean any actions that alter habitats in ways that impact endangered species’ ability to feed, breed, or find shelter, per the AP.

In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service said that changing a habitat should not be considered “harm” because it is not the same as intentionally targeting a species, per the AP.

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Noah Greenwald, the endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity, told the AP that the newly proposed rule “cuts the heart out of the Endangered Species Act. “

“If (you) say harm doesn’t mean significant habitat degradation or modification, then it really leaves endangered species out in the cold,” he said.

“If you’re a prairie chicken in the Southwest, and there’s an oil and gas developer and they want to destroy your prime breeding display grounds, the bird can’t mate,” Hartl added.

The Endangered Species Act, enacted in 1973, protects wild animals in several ways. It prohibits people from actions that “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect” plants and animals on the verge of extinction, per the Post.

Drew Caputo, an attorney at Earthjustice, told the AP that the administration’s new proposal “threatens a half-century of progress in protecting and restoring endangered species,” including bald eagles, spotted owls, gray wolves, manatees and panthers, sea turtles and humpback whales.

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Caputo adds that the current law “recognizes the common-sense concept that destroying a forest, beach, river, or wetland that a species relies on for survival constitutes harm to that species.”

Experts in Hawaii are particularly concerned about the new proposal, as the state has more endangered species than any other, about 40% of all endangered species in the country.

Maxx Philipps, Hawaii and Pacific Islands director for the Center for Biological Diversity, told the AP that amending the Endangered Species Act and allowing developers to alter habitats would worsen the state’s extinction crisis.

“Habitat is life, right?” Philipps told the outlet. “And without it, there is no recovery and without recovery, there is only extinction.”

The proposal is expected to be challenged in court.

This move from the government comes after Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum shared his thoughts on attempts to resurrect extinct animals following a genetic engineering company’s claims that it had successfully created three dire wolf puppies.

Burgum said he is reconsidering the endangered species list. The former North Dakota governor applauded the efforts of gene-editing technology on X and called for an examination of the list.

“The Department of the Interior is excited about the potential of ‘de-extinction’ technology and how it may serve broader purposes beyond the recovery of lost species, including strengthening biodiversity protection efforts and helping endangered or at-risk species,” read the post.

“The only thing we’d like to see go extinct is the need for an endangered species list to exist,” Burgum added. “We need to continue improving recovery efforts to make that a reality, and the marvel of ‘de-extinction’ technology can help forge a future where populations are never at risk.”