{"id":3701,"date":"2026-07-15T15:06:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3701"},"modified":"2026-07-15T15:06:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:06:59","slug":"interior-redefines-harm-under-endangered-species-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3701","title":{"rendered":"Interior redefines \u2018harm\u2019 under Endangered Species Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>KEY POINTS<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>The Trump administration removed protections for the habitats of endangered species.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The rule changes the definition of the word &#8220;harm&#8221; in the Endangered Species Act.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Several wildlife advocacy organizations filed lawsuits in response to the change.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Last week, the Trump administration finalized a rule that removed federal protections for the habitats of endangered species. Now the \u201cmodification or degradation\u201d of an at-risk species\u2019 habitat is no longer illegal, which allows a greater number of uses on formerly protected land. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3699\">Republicans unveil new $95 billion spending framework. This is what\u2019s inside<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In order to do so, the new rule, which the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce finalized on July 10, changes the definition of the word \u201charm.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>For the majority of the law\u2019s 52-year existence, that word\u2019s scope extended to the habitats of at-risk species. In the case of some larger species with massive ranges, that necessitated the protection of large, potentially economically productive tracts of land. <\/p>\n<p>It is that \u201cmisguided\u201d definition, as federal officials called it, that was rescinded. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor years, federal agencies abused the ESA to obstruct lawful land use and burden American families and businesses,\u201d Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a press release. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat approach turned routine activity into a regulatory trap, drove up costs that impacted people\u2019s lives, and expanded federal authority beyond what Congress intended.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In response to the new rule, the Western Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice filed lawsuits against the federal government Tuesday. Wildlife advocates and conservation groups argue that protecting a species habitat is integral to its protection. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is war on the forests and rivers of the West,\u201d Pete Frost, attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center in Eugene, Oregon, said in a statement. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo longer protecting where grizzlies, salmon and owls live will make them go extinct. We\u2019re hopeful the court will clarify what the Endangered Species Act has always meant.\u201d <\/p>\n<h3>What were the changes? <\/h3>\n<p>That single word \u201charm\u201d represented a foundational principle at the heart of the Endangered Species Act, which extended protections beyond the body of the 1,662 at-risk flora or fauna currently listed to their broader habitats. <\/p>\n<p>In that effort, the law is credited with saving 99% of protected species from extinction \u2014 all but four \u2014 and preventing that end for at least 291 others. <\/p>\n<p>The far reach of that interpretation of harm, however, was also the cause of much ire for opponents of the law. In 1995, those frustrated with the breadth of its reach took their arguments all the way to the Supreme Court. <\/p>\n<p>In Babbitt v. Sweet Home Chapter of Communities for a Great Oregon, however, the court ruled 6-3 in favor of a definition of \u201charm\u201d that included habitat. <\/p>\n<p>In a dissenting opinion, however, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the law should be interpreted more literally. And, rather than hinge on the scope of \u201charm,\u201d it should be based on the definition of \u201ctake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3697\">Opinion: 16 \u2018almost feral\u2019 children in Ohio show why we need Child Protective Services<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe term \u2018take\u2019 means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct,\u201d reads the law, signed by Republican President Richard Nixon in 1973. <\/p>\n<p>Rather than haggling over harm, Scalia wrote that the definition of \u201ctake\u201d was about whether or not an animal was killed. That interpretation is the basis for the new definition applied by the Trump administration. <\/p>\n<p>In the press release, the Interior wrote that the law\u2019s \u201ccore protections remain firmly in place.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cActions that directly injure or kill listed wildlife will continue to be prohibited &#8230; What ends today is a system that repeatedly punished people for indirect or speculative impacts never contemplated by Congress.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re returning the ESA to its foundational purpose to ensure legitimate conservation goals are met without sacrificing economic growth and American prosperity,\u201d Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a statement. <\/p>\n<h3>What was the response to this logic? <\/h3>\n<p>Conservation and wildlife advocacy groups say they see the change as another instance of the Trump administration reducing the potency of the country\u2019s environmental regulations. As recently as March, the administration carved out an exemption from the endangered species law for offshore oil and gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico. <\/p>\n<p>But in terms of the rule\u2019s rhetoric, opponents say that the new interpretation of the law obfuscates the science that explains why harm extends to habitats. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Endangered Species Act has been one of our nation\u2019s most successful conservation laws because it relies on science to determine what threatened and endangered species need to survive and recover,\u201d said Bradley Williams, a deputy legislative director for the Sierra Club. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese new rules move us in the wrong direction by making it harder to provide protections for imperiled wildlife and by giving greater weight to corporate interests than to the biological needs of species facing extinction.\u201d <\/p>\n<h3>Do Americans support the change? <\/h3>\n<p>Last year, some 400,000 people submitted public comments opposing rolling back endangered species protections. In national polls, the law is often supported by more than 75% of respondents. In one case, 69% supported extending protection to habitats. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDestroying or damaging habitats is just as lethal to endangered species as directly hurting them,\u201d Bart Melton, senior wildlife program director for the National Parks Conservation Association, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis change in how the law is carried out defies common sense, science, and paves the way for mining, oil and gas drilling, logging, and development in areas that are crucial to the survival of some of our most vulnerable species. This rule ignores decades of conservation science and could undermine recovery efforts for more than 600 species, from salmon in Olympic to grizzlies in Yellowstone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3695\">Social contagion and a \u2018solid self\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The change removes protections for endangered species habitats, sparking lawsuits from advocates <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Interior redefines \u2018harm\u2019 under Endangered Species Act - 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