Friday, July 20, 2018

The Trump administration is rolling back parts of the Endangered Species Act

The Trump administration is redefining how the government will protect endangered plants and animals. Today, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that they are considering rolling back regulations outlined in the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a 45-year-old law aimed at saving species that face extinction. The potential changes could limit the areas that can be designated as critical habitats, and alter the kinds of protections that threatened species receive.

To start, threatened species are getting a new definition. Right now, these species are considered as those that are at risk of becoming endangered in the “foreseeable future.” The agencies will change what “foreseeable...

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