Trump Administration Takes Aim at Endangered Species Act

 by Ed Grumbine, North Rim Ranches Director

Endangered species need your help. The Trump administration, acting through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries, is attempting to undermine the Endangered Species Act, the law that has protected the bald eagle, California condor, and humpback chub from extinction.

Without the protection of the Endangered Species Act, the Mexican spotted owl might already be missing from its old forest haunts in the Grand Canyon and on the North Rim, and the Colorado River willow-thicket song of the southwestern willow flycatcher would be but a memory. And these are species that are already listed as endangered. In the Grand Canyon National Park alone there are an additional 12 plants and animals that are of "special concern" and may need legal protection in the future.

The administration says it wants to “streamline and clarify” the Act, but this is a smokescreen for reducing on-the-ground protections for animals and plants that are teetering on the edge of existence. 

TAKE ACTION. Tell federal officials that you don’t want to see the Endangered Species Act weakened ›

In your own words, please voice your support for three key parts of the law the administration is trying to change:

• Protect threatened species. Endangered species are already on emergency life-support, while threatened species are headed for the hospital. But the Trump administration proposes reducing legal protection for threatened species. Don’t weaken protections for threatened species.
• Use only the best available science. The Endangered Species Act does not allow agencies to use economic calculations to influence whether a plant or animal should be protected. Only the best available science can be used. But now the administration wants to allow short-term costs to play a role in how we choose to protect the most vulnerable species on the planet. Don’t allow economic costs to be used to influence decisions to list species on the brink of extinction.
• Think about the “foreseeable” future. The Act allows for events in the “foreseeable future” (like habitat destruction and climate change) to influence actions taken today to reduce threats to species tomorrow. The Trump administration wants to dumb this down by requiring that “foreseeable” events now be defined as “probable” events. This wordplay would make it more difficult to get species protected by the law. Words matter. Don’t limit our understanding of future threats to plants and animals.

The Mexican spotted owl offers a prime example of a threatened species that could be affected by these changes. Right now, the owl has protection about as strong as if it was listed as endangered, no economic data has been used to qualify its status, and climate change is projected to begin to impact the bird's forest home in the “foreseeable future,” though few scientists working today would say that these projections are “probable.” But all this could change if the new rules are put in place.

If the Trump administration really wanted to “produce the best conservation results for species” by revising the Endangered Species Act, agencies would incorporate all the conservation science that has been discovered since the last time the law was changed in the 1980s. For example, we now know that pronghorn, mule deer, and other wide-ranging mammals need protected habitat corridors so that they can move safely over long distances. But under the current Endangered Species Act, no corridors have specific legal protection anywhere on the Colorado Plateau.

Incorporating the latest conservation science would really produce the best results and bring the Endangered Species Act into the 21st century. Feel free to add this to your comments!

TAKE ACTION before the September 24, 2018 deadline. Send a comment online via the federal form ›

 Prefer snail mail? Send a letter to: 

• Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0006; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, MS: BPHC, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803, or:
• National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Resources, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

Want more info before you comment? Read the proposed rule or this op-ed by The New York Times editorial board.

Thank you for standing up for our fellow species.