Native Plant Conservation Campaign News: States, scientists, environmental groups vow to challenge Trump rollbacks to Endangered Species Act
September 4, 2019
On August 12, the Trump administration unveiled controversial and significant changes to the rules which implement the federal Endangered Species
Act, one of the most
popular and
successful conservation laws in the world. The new regulations change how the law will be enforced in the future.
The revisions will
- Make it easier for regulators to remove species from the endangered species list and
- Remove protections for threatened species.
- For the first time require agencies to estimate the costs of protecting imperiled species, although the law requires that listing decisions be based solely on science and prohibits consideration of costs
- Significantly weaken scientific standards for designating critical habitat for listed species, allowing some habitat remain unprotected even if it is essential to species survival and recovery
- Limit the ability of federal scientists to consider climate change when making listing and critical habitat decisions
Criticism of the new rules was immediate and widespread. Many newspapers and organizations cited the recent United Nations
report that warned that worldwide more than one million species of plants and animals face extinction due to human development and climate change. The UN report also
found that plants are being driven extinct at a much higher rate than animals. Most analyses predict that the new Endangered Species Act regulations will exacerbate these dangerous trends.
The attorneys general of California and Massachusetts, along with conservation groups, have announced plans to challenge the regulation in courts. Last year,
attorneys general from 10 states criticized the proposed Endangered Species Act regulations. Democratic lawmakers have said that they will block the revisions. “We need to consider stopping these regulations by any means”, said Senator Tom Udall (D-NM), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Environment.
For more information, see
Speak out about the new regulations!
- Share your opinion of the regulations in a letter to the editor or an op ed to your local paper. See sample letter to the editor below.
- Share your views with your House and Senate representatives. Ask them to join Senator Udall others in blocking the regulations
- Ask you state to join the lawsuits challenging the regulations
Click the "Outreach Tools" tab for tips on personalizing your message to elected officials and the media and for sample letter to editor
NOTE: Although many of the tips were designed for the Botany Bill, they are also applicable to opposition to the Endangered Species Act regulations. Overturning the new ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT regulations would also promote science-based, sustainable management of rare species, native plant communities, and ecosystems.
Photos:
Tennessee Coneflower, recovered and delisted 2011 (c) TN Natural Heritage Program. It is one of hundreds of plant species that the Act has protected from extinction or helped to recovery.
Monarch butterflies (c) Doug Tallamy. The Monarch is not yet listed, despite dramatic population declines, and so is subject to the Trump regulations.
Sample Letter to The Editor
Editor:
I am writing to ask that our elected officials oppose the Trump administration’s new Endangered Species Act regulations, which substantially weaken this landmark conservation law. The Endangered Species Act, signed by Richard Nixon in 1973, is our last line of defense to prevent plant and animal extinction and protect healthy ecosystems on which all species, including humans, depend.
The Act is one of our nation's most effective and popular conservation laws. It has saved hundreds of species (examples from your area) from extinction. Polling from 2015 shows that 90% of voters support the law. It is also flexible, requiring that federal, state, tribal and local officials work together to protect endangered species.
This weakening of the Endangered Species Act does not reflect the will of the American people. We want the recovery of our most imperiled species and ecosystems to be left to scientists - not special interests.
I urge our elected officials to do everything they can to stand up for this historic law and protect imperiled species and ecosystems for generations to come.
