US opens endangered species habitats to logging and mining

The Trump administration has finalized a rule that significantly weakens the Endangered Species Act (ESA), opening critical habitats of imperiled wildlife to development, logging, and mining. This decision reverses a long-standing interpretation of the law, which for 50 years included habitat protection as a key component of safeguarding species.

The ESA's previous definition of "harm" ensured protection not only for individual plants and animals but also for the environments essential to their survival. This broader understanding was previously upheld by the Supreme Court in a 1995 ruling supporting protections for old-growth forests vital to endangered spotted owls. Despite widespread public opposition and hundreds of thousands of public comments against the change, the Department of the Interior and Department of Commerce reframed the habitat protections as "regulatory intrusion."

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For the first time ever, a presidential administration now claims that species protected by the Endangered Species Act shouldn’t be safe from habitat modification that destroys where they live, raise their young, or search for food.

Habitat destruction is widely recognized as the primary driver of species loss. The ESA has been instrumental in protecting over 1,700 species, with a success rate of preventing extinction for 99% of listed species, including the iconic bald eagle. Conservationists express grave concerns that this new rule could lead to catastrophic damage for species already on the brink of extinction.

"For the first time ever, a presidential administration now claims that species protected by the Endangered Species Act shouldn’t be safe from habitat modification that destroys where they live, raise their young, or search for food," stated Kristen Boyles, an attorney at Earthjustice. Stephanie Kurose of the Center for Biological Diversity warned that the plan could be "a death sentence for wolverines, monarch butterflies, Florida manatees and so many other animals and plants that desperately need our help."

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the plan would be “a death sentence for wolverines, monarch butterflies, Florida manatees and so many other animals and plants that desperately need our help”.