TAKE ACTION: "Habitat" is being redefined by the administration

 

Endangered species habitat threatened The administration is redefining “habitat,” putting conservation efforts in jeopardy TAKE ACTION   As if one round of devastating rollbacks to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was not enough, the Trump administration has come back to strike a second blow at this vital and popular environmental law. This month the administration seeks to limit the meaning of “habitat” as it relates to the ESA, preventing protection and restoration of areas that are essential to achieve recovery of imperiled animals and plants. For decades agencies such as the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have successfully restored areas of former or potential habitat to support the recovery of endangered species. By ridding an area of invasive species, for example, habitat can be restored to help a recovering species thrive. Habitat loss is the number one driver of biodiversity loss — and the administration is responding by restricting the areas that can be defined as habitat. This redefinition — long sought after by industry — will serve only to prevent imperiled species from successfully reclaiming the space they need to thrive. This change clearly runs counter to the spirit and letter of the ESA and is nothing more than a giveaway to industries that profit from habitat destruction. We need you to tell the Trump administration that our endangered and threatened species can’t afford this disastrous rule change. Comment now! What would these changes look like on the ground? They would mean degraded yet critical habitat set aside for the Hawaiian palila’s recovery might not have been saved and restored, jeopardizing the species’ long-term survival. There are countless other plants and animals that need the same proactive efforts that have helped the palila, but the Trump administration is deliberately creating roadblocks for conservation efforts. The climate crisis is only worsening this problem. As changing conditions reshape habitats, some species may need to move into areas they don’t currently occupy in order to survive. This harmful new definition of habitat means we may not be able to protect such vital areas, even though scientists have the tools to do so. Climate change is pushing many species to the brink, and we need every possible tool to help them adapt — not limits designed to feed industry profits. This rule change is just the latest in a series of actions by the administration to gut the laws underpinning historically successful conservation efforts in the United States. They’ve attacked the National Environmental Policy Act, inserted bogus economic considerations into the ESA, and cut funding for critical conservation programs — all in the name of helping industry and dismantling the nation’s bedrock environmental protections. We can’t let the administration get away with this. We need to flood the public comment portal with letters opposing this disastrous and shortsighted rule change. The Endangered Species Act works, and species that are hanging by a thread can’t afford for it to be weakened. Tell the administration these changes are a disastrous idea. TAKE ACTION     . Sincerely, David Henkin Staff Attorney

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