The public comment period on changes proposed for the Endangered Species Act by the Trump administration closes at midnight EST on Monday.
According to Defenders of Wildlife, more than 341,000 people from across the country have voiced their opposition to the proposed changes.
"The Trump administration's persistent efforts to kill the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by making a thousand cuts to its implementing regulations not only represents a direct attack on our shared national heritage but also a shameful ignorance of what is needed to protect and restore America’s vulnerable wildlife,” Andrew Bowman, president and CEO at Defenders of Wildlife, said Friday. “Defenders stands at the ready to fight back against these attacks and to ensure a future rich in wildlife for all to enjoy.”
The administration announced in November that it wanted to make changes to the ESA to revert the regulations to those President Donald Trump made during his first term. Those changes were quickly criticized by conservationists, who said if made they would ensure "a death sentence" to countless species that benefit from the act.
At the time, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the restoration of four rules would align with the president's "directives to strengthen American energy independence, improve regulatory predictability and ensure federal actions align with the best reading of the law."
One of the rules the administration wants to change involves how critical habitat for species is defined, specifying that economic and national interests can overrule habitat decisions. It also wants to eliminate the "blanket 4(d) rule," which establishes the default of automatically extending protections provided to endangered species to those listed as threatened, unless the Service adopts a species-specific 4(d) rule that provides exceptions to ESA protections.
Staff at the Center for Biological Diversity said last month that the changes "would dismantle the Endangered Species Act and drive hundreds of imperiled animals and plants closer to extinction." The proposed changes would "make it easier for industry to bulldoze, drill, and destroy critical habitat, while making it harder for animals and plants in need of protection to get the safeguards they deserve," the Center said.
“Trump’s proposals are a death sentence for wolverines, Monarch butterflies, Florida manatees and so many other animals and plants that desperately need our help,” Stephanie Kurose, deputy director of government affairs at the organization, said when the proposed changes were announced. “We assumed Trump would attack wildlife again but this dumpster fire of a plan is beyond cruel. Americans overwhelmingly support the Endangered Species Act and want to see it strengthened, not sledgehammered. We’ve fought this before and we’ll fight it again.”
Defenders of Wildlife on Friday submitted its technical comments opposing the administration’s proposals to weaken the ESA’s implementing regulations. In addition to its technical comments, Defenders submitted a petition comment letter with over 8,600 signatories.
If finalized, Defenders said these proposed revisions would significantly undermine the ESA's implementation. They would:
- Drastically weaken protections for listed species
- Raise the bar for listing species as threatened
- Complicate efforts to assess and mitigate federal activities’ impacts on listed species
- Open the door for special interest groups to drill, mine, log, and develop in habitats essential to species survival and recovery
"The Endangered Species Act has been at the forefront of protecting wildlife for over 50 years, saving nearly all listed species in the U.S. from extinction. The administration’s proposals to drastically weaken the ESA’s implementing regulations threaten this track record, and will have grave consequences for animals, plants, ecosystems and human well-being," said Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife. "These proposals are cause for alarm not only to conservationists, but also the American public. The administration should withdraw these proposals as inconsistent with the ESA’s mandate that science, not politics, guide its implementation."
According to polling conducted by Defenders, 95 percent of voters support the ESA and 50 percent believe it should be strengthened, not weakened.
You can comment online on the four proposed changes at these sites:
https://www.regulations.gov/search?filter=FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0039
https://www.regulations.gov/search?filter=FWS%E2%80%93HQ%E2%80%93ES%E2%8...
https://www.regulations.gov/search?filter=FWS%E2%80%93HQ%E2%80%93ES%E2%8...
https://www.regulations.gov/search?filter=FWS%E2%80%93HQ%E2%80%93ES%E2%8...
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