Trump aims to end automatic protections for some species
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The Trump administration on Thursday proposed ending automatic protections for threatened animals and plants and limiting habitat safeguards meant to shield recovering species from harm.
Devon Ravine/Northwest Florida Daily News via AP
Administration officials said the new rules would advance conservation by simplifying and improving how the landmark Endangered Species Act is used.
“These rules will be very protective,” said U.S. Interior Department Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, adding that the changes would reduce the “conflict and uncertainty” associated with many protected species.
Chris Stermer/California Department of Fish and Wildlife via AP
The proposals drew immediate condemnation from Democrats and some wildlife advocates.
Critics said the moves would speed extinctions in the name of furthering its anti-environment agenda. Species currently under consideration for protections are considered especially at risk, including the North American wolverine and the monarch butterfly, they said.
“It essentially turns every listing of a species into a negotiation,” said Noah Greenwald with the Center for Biological Diversity. “They could decide that building in a species’ habitat or logging in trees where birds nest doesn’t constitute harm.”
A number of conflicts have arisen in the decades since the 1973 passage of the Endangered Species Act, ranging from disruptions to logging to protect spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest, to attacks on livestock that have accompanied the restoration of gray wolves in the Rocky Mountains and upper Midwest.
Some species including gray wolves and grizzly retained protection for years after meeting their original recovery goals, often due to court orders resulting from environmentalists’ lawsuits.
The proposed changes include potential limits on the designation of “critical habitat” for imperiled plants and animals; an end to a regulatory provision that gives threatened plants and animals the same protections as species at greater risk of extinction; and streamlining inter-agency consultations when federal government actions could jeopardize a species.
Collin O’Mara, president of the National Wildlife Federation, welcomed the potential for the changes to spur greater collaboration between landowners, government officials and conservationists — even as he cautioned against ending automatic protections for threatened species.
“This is not all good or all bad,” he said.
O’Mara said crafting case by case species management plans is an appropriate alternative to the blanket protections now given automatically to threatened and endangered species. Until those plans are completed, he said, broad protections against harming plants and animals should stay in place.
More than 700 animals and almost 1,000 plants in the U.S. are shielded by the law. Hundreds more are under consideration for protections.
Fewer than 100 species have been taken off the threatened and endangered lists, either because they were deemed recovered or, in at least 10 cases, went extinct.
Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke have been strong advocates for oil and gas drilling and other types of development, frequently criticizing environmental policies they say hinder economic activity. Zinke also has sought to portray himself as a conservationist in the vein of President Teddy Roosevelt who will protect the nation’s natural resources.
The administration’s proposals follow longstanding criticism of the Endangered Species Act by business groups and some members of Congress. Republican lawmakers are pushing legislation to enact broad changes to the law, saying it hinders economic activities while doing little to restore species.
One of the chief architects of that effort, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, said the administration’s proposals were “a good start” but indicated more work was needed.
“The administration is limited by an existing law that needs to be updated,” Barrasso said. “The changes I have proposed will empower states, promote the recovery of species, and allow local economies to thrive.”
The Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative law firm headquartered in California, lobbied for some of the changes.
Foundation attorney Jonathan Wood said the proposals would relieve apprehensions among property owners who in the past have been reluctant to get involved in species conservation efforts.
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Our grandchildren will curse us...
What can one really expect? After all, this is from the same guy who made an anti-environmentalist head of the EPA.
Exactly.
There's nothing to be done to stop the destruction, so the best we can do is to ensure the people are informed.
Informing and educating people is the first step to stopping the destruction. Unfortunately, many people seem to prefer to remain willfully ignorant. Or in denial. Or both.
Yes.
Another related article:
The Trump administration is rolling back parts of the Endangered Species Act
To start, threatened species are getting a new definition. Right now, these species are considered as those that are at risk of becoming endangered in the “foreseeable future.” The agencies will change what “foreseeable future” means, making it clear that it “extends only so far into the future as the [agencies] can reasonably determine” that the risk of extinction is probable. The US Fish and Wildlife Service plans to get rid of the ESA’s blanket rule that gave threatened species the same protections as endangered species.
The agencies propose changing how species are listed and delisted as endangered under the act. Now, a species will be delisted using the same criteria as the government uses to put a species on the endangered or threatened list.
“One thing we heard over and over again was that ESA implementation was not consistent and often times very confusing to navigate,” Greg Sheehan, the principal deputy director for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, said in a statement. “We are proposing these improvements to produce the best conservation results for the species while reducing the regulatory burden on the American people.”
The administration is also revising how federal agencies consult with NOAA and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to make sure they’re not harming critical habitats. And it’s possible that less-critical habitats will be added under the act in the future. Now, before a new area can be considered a critical habitat for a species, the agencies must first do an assessment of all the habitats the species already lives in. “While the agencies recognize the value of critical habitat as a conservation tool, in some cases, designation of critical habitat is not prudent,” the US Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA said in a press release announcing the proposed changes.
Environmentalist groups have already criticized the announcement, arguing this will make it harder to designate new habitats for species that are threatened by climate change. “This proposal turns the extinction-prevention tool of the Endangered Species Act into a rubber stamp for powerful corporate interests,” Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement . “Allowing the federal government to turn a blind eye to climate change will be a death sentence for polar bears and hundreds of other animals and plants.”
This isn’t the first time government officials have tried to roll back aspects of the Endangered Species Act, which was signed into law in 1973. The ESA is often credited with saving the bald eagle from extinction. However, the law has been a target for Republican lawmakers in recent years, who argue that its regulations have hampered those in the logging, mining, and oil industries, according to CNN . Last year, Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) introduced a bill that would make it harder for species to become listed as threatened under the law.
How frickin sad...
“Only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish been caught, and the last stream poisoned, will we realize we cannot eat money.”
― Cree Indian Prophecy
Even more proof that Donald J. Trump's heart is in the right place. Getting rid of the animals and insects will make picnics much more tolerable. Remember, poisoned streams are a sign that the economic recovery is real. Soon, we will all be prosperous, fat and happy. MAGA! Show your patriotism, throw trash onto the roads as you're driving. MAGA!
s/
Tin cans along the highway are ugly people say. But at night, reflecting bright, they safely guide the way.
Absolutely. MAGA!
Now his loser sons and their friends will be able to hunt endangered animals.
Look at the bright side. When all of the animals are gone....'the losers and friends'....can hunt each other.
Ted Nugent will guide them so they'll all be OK.