PHOENIX — The Trump administration finalized a rule Friday that changes how agencies enforce the Endangered Species Act and eliminates a key protection for endangered wildlife from logging, oil drilling and other activities. The administration narrowed the definition of “damage” under the landmark law, a change with broad implications. For decades, the government defined harm
PHOENIX — The Trump administration finalized a rule Friday that changes how agencies enforce the Endangered Species Act and eliminates a key protection for endangered wildlife from logging, oil drilling and other activities.
The administration narrowed the definition of “damage” under the landmark law, a change with broad implications.
For decades, the government defined harm broadly to include encroachment on places with threatened and endangered animals. The change announced Friday would allow oil and gas drilling, mining, logging and other development in critical wildlife habitat, as long as the animals themselves are not killed or injured.
Environmentalists warned that the measure could cause the extinction of some species by opening the door to habitat destruction. Industry representatives and their Republican allies have long argued that the landmark 1973 environmental law is applied too broadly, to the detriment of economic growth.
Administration officials said they were returning the law to its original intent, following a 2024 Supreme Court decision that limited the authority of federal agencies to interpret environmental statutes passed by Congress. They described the government’s previous definition of harm as an intrusion on private property rights.
It’s one of a series of changes to wildlife protections that officials have implemented under President Donald Trump.
“For years, federal agencies abused the ESA to obstruct legal land use and burden American families and businesses,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.
The change was first proposed in April 2025 and environmentalists fought unsuccessfully to block it. Habitat destruction is the leading cause of extinction, according to wildlife advocates.
“This is one of the most horrific attempts to harm wildlife in American history and a gift to oil barons and foreign mining companies,” said Aaron Weiss, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities.
The Endangered Species Act is credited with rescuing iconic animals, including the bald eagle, American alligator, and California condor, from the brink of extinction.
Republicans repealed several provisions of the law during Trump’s first term, only to reverse those measures under Democratic President Joe Biden.
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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.
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