New US Administration Moves to Amend Endangered Species Act Protections

Thu Nov 20 2025 00:18:13 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The administration has proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act, undoing previous protections and potentially leading to extended delays in environmental conservation efforts.

In a significant policy shift, the U.S. government is rolling back protections for endangered species with new proposals that critics argue could jeopardize numerous species, including the monarch butterfly and manatee. The changes will require a more case-specific approach for protections, potentially leading to long delays.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — In a decisive enforcement of new policy, the U.S. administration has initiated a rollback of vital protections for endangered species and their habitats. Advocates for the environment have expressed profound concern over a set of proposed changes aimed at the Endangered Species Act regulations, which were previously stalled under former President Joe Biden.

The recent changes will eradicate the Fish and Wildlife Service’s previous blanket rule that automatically safeguarded animals and plants recognized as threatened. Under the new directives, government agencies will be compelled to develop specific rules for each species, establishing a potentially protracted process.

Environmentalists have sounded alarms, predicting that these adjustments could result in destructive delays for critical species, including the monarch butterfly, Florida manatee, California spotted owl, and North American wolverine. Stephanie Kurose of the Center for Biological Diversity expressed sorrow stating, We would have to wait until these poor animals are almost extinct before we can start protecting them. That’s absurd and heartbreaking.

The proposals coincide with escalating global extinction rates driven by habitat destruction and other environmental pressures. Previously, during Trump’s second term, attempts were made to redefine 'harm' under the Endangered Species Act, with goals of circumventing protections to facilitate logging projects on public lands.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stated that the aim of these alterations was to restore the Endangered Species Act to its original intent, while maintaining the livelihood of Americans dependent on land and resources.

The reforms echo longstanding demands from Republican lawmakers and sector stakeholders in oil, gas, mining, and agriculture, asserting that the law was applied too broadly and hindered economic growth. Recent proposals also introduce a requirement for officials to consider prospective economic impacts when defining critical habitat for threatened species.

Burgum remarked that the revisions eliminate confusion and overreach in regulations while ensuring conservation is rooted in sound scientific practices. This comes after the Winter 2023 legal action by the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) against the blanket protection rule, claiming it was illegal and diminished state-led recovery efforts.

PERC Vice President Jonathan Wood characterized the proposed changes as an essential rectification of Biden’s decisions, highlighting a restoration of focus on species recovery at the core of the Endangered Species Act.