The Trump administration has introduced four new rules that would severely weaken the Endangered Species Act — the law that has kept iconic species like the California condor, Florida manatee, gray whale, and whooping crane from disappearing forever.

If these rules move forward, species already fighting for survival — from the red wolf, one of the most endangered mammals on Earth, to the rapidly declining monarch butterfly, to wolverines who are losing the fight against climate change — could lose the very protections that are keeping them alive. Habitat safeguards could be gutted. Threatened species could lose automatic protections. And agencies could sidestep scientific review before allowing harmful development.

This is one of the biggest threats to wildlife protections in decades — and public comments are open right now.

These rules would dismantle the core protections that have made the Endangered Species Act one of the most successful conservation laws in the world. Instead of putting science and recovery first, they would make it easier for federal agencies to look the other way while wildlife and habitat are harmed.

1: One proposal would open the door for economic interests to influence which species get protected — a standard Congress rejected decades ago because it put industry profits ahead of extinction prevention. Another would make it harder to rely on the best available science, giving agencies more space to discount the data that should guide decisions about whether species are at risk.

2: The administration also wants to weaken critical habitat protections, giving agencies broad power to exclude areas even when they’re essential for recovery. Without strong habitat safeguards, species lose the very places they need to survive.

3: Another proposal would gut the consultation process that requires federal agencies to check with wildlife experts before approving dams, pipelines, mines, or other major projects. That means more harmful development could move forward without the safeguards endangered wildlife depend on.

4: And finally, the rules would end automatic protections for newly listed threatened species, leaving vulnerable wildlife exposed while agencies sort through slow, case-by-case decisions.

Taken together, these rollbacks would strip away the safety net that has kept countless species from disappearing forever. Instead of strengthening the ESA, these rules would tilt the scales toward exploitation, habitat destruction, and irreversible loss — unless we step up and stop them.

The Endangered Species Act does not need to be revised. It works. It has prevented 99% of listed species from going extinct.

Please submit your public comment opposing these devastating rollbacks today. You can personalize the short drafts on this page and send them to the agencies responsible for carrying out the Endangered Species Act (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service). We’ll make sure they get added to the public comment period as well.

The deadline is approaching fast. The Trump Administration is only accepting public input for 30 days--ending on Dec 22nd at 11:59 PM EST. The more people who speak up now, the harder it becomes for agencies to push forward rules that favor industry over wildlife survival.

Please send your comments opposing these revisions to protections today to defend endangered species from these radical cuts and then share this widely.

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Source

Humane World for Animals (Trump administration proposes to gut Endangered Species Act protections)