The U.S. Interior Department on Friday canceled a rule that automatically granted protections to plants and animals classified as threatened with extinction, marking the latest effort by President Donald Trump's administration to reshape the Endangered Species Act at the request of industry groups.
Under the previous regulation in place since 1975 for wildlife and 1977 for plants, species designated as threatened received automatic safeguards. The new policy requires individualized protection plans for each species added to the threatened list, a process that could allow companies to seek exemptions for oil and gas drilling, mining and other development activities in areas where those species live.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement that the Endangered Species Act had been used for too long "to stop almost any new project in America, driving up costs for families, weakening our competitiveness, and undermining our national security."
What the Right Is Saying
Conservatives and industry groups argue the previous rule created unintended consequences for landowners and economic development. Jonathan Wood, vice president at the Property and Environment Research Center, a Montana-based organization that previously sued the Biden administration over the regulation, said the change allows officials to "better reward progress and encourage proactive conservation."
"The rule unfairly imposed the same restrictions on landowners when a species' status improves from endangered, which is more dire, to threatened," Wood said. "That removed incentives for landowners to participate in species recovery."
Burgum noted that 97% of species given protections under the act still retain them, a figure that frustrates Republican lawmakers who say species should be delisted more quickly once they've recovered. The Interior Secretary argued that "success should be measured by species recovery and delisting, not by adding more species to the list."
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, which co-filed the 2024 lawsuit challenging the blanket protections rule, said individualized plans will allow for more tailored approaches to species conservation.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive Democrats and environmental advocates say the rule change will accelerate species decline and make it harder to protect wildlife awaiting federal designation. Noah Greenwald with the Center for Biological Diversity said the move removes critical safeguards that have existed for nearly 50 years.
"If you're exempting certain industries that cause habitat destruction, in many instances you'll be exempting the main threat to those species," Greenwald said.
Environmental groups warn that species currently proposed for threatened status—including monarch butterflies and alligator snapping turtles—will face higher extinction risk under the new system. Democrats have pointed out that no species have been added to the endangered or threatened lists during Trump's second term, compared to roughly 60 species listed during President Joe Biden's administration and more than 20 during Trump's first term.
Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts said in a post on social media that the change "puts oil executives in charge of wildlife policy."
What the Numbers Show
About 30 species are currently proposed for listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. These include monarch butterflies, alligator snapping turtles, California spotted owls, and various snakes, fish, clams and insects.
The administration has made multiple changes to endangered species regulations in its second term: exempting Gulf of Mexico oil and gas drilling from ESA review in March, narrowing the legal definition of "harm" to wildlife this week, and reducing critical habitat designated for Canada lynx in the Rocky Mountains. The Interior Department also announced plans this week to transfer more grizzly bear management authority to Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.
The Endangered Species Act has been credited with recovering iconic species including the bald eagle and American alligator from near extinction. Approximately 2,400 species are currently protected under the act, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service data.
The Bottom Line
The rule change represents a fundamental shift in how the federal government approaches species protection, moving from automatic safeguards for threatened animals to case-by-case determinations. Environmental advocates warn this creates opportunities for industry exemptions that could accelerate extinctions, while supporters say it will reduce regulatory barriers to development and create better incentives for landowners.
About 30 species awaiting protected status face an uncertain future under the new system. What happens next will depend on how the administration handles those pending proposals and whether courts intervene in challenges expected from environmental groups.