The Trump administration plans to eliminate habitat protections for endangered species and threatened in a movement that environmentalists say it would lead to the extinction of critical endangered species due to logging, mining, development and other activities.
In question, it is a long -standing definition of “damage” in the law of endangered species, which has included altering or destroying the places that these species live. Habitat destruction is the biggest cause of extinction, said Noah Greenwald, director of endangered species in the center of biological diversity.
The United States fishing and wild life service and the National Marine Fishing Service said in a proposed rule issued on Wednesday that habitat modification should not be considered damage because it is not the same as intentionally attacking a species, called “Toma”. However, environmentalists argue that the definition of “takes” has always included actions that damage the species, and the definition of “damage” has been confirmed by the Supreme Court.
The proposed rule “cuts the heart of the law of endangered species,” Greenwald said. “If (you) say that the damage does not mean a significant degradation or modification of the habitat, then it really leaves the species in danger of extinction in the cold.”
For example, he said that the owners seen and Florida panthers are protected because the current rule prohibits habitat destruction. But if the new rule is adopted, someone who registers in a forest or builds a development would not hinder him while he could say that they did not intend to damage an endangered species, he said.
The proposed rule was expected to be published in the Federal Registry on Thursday, starting a period of 30 -day public comments.
A spokeswoman for the US fishing and life service referred to Associated Press to the Department of the Interior, which declined to comment.
The environmental groups will challenge the rule in court if adopted, said Drew Caputo, a lawyer from Earthjustice.
He said that the proposal “threat to half a century of progress in the protection and restoration of endangered species”, including bald eagles, gray wolves, Florida manatees and humpback whales. He said that it is because the current rule “recognizes the concept of common sense that destroying a forest, beach, river or wetland on which a species is based for survival constitutes damage to that species.”
The question is whether the Trump administration has the right to repeal a rule that was specifically confirmed by the Supreme Court and, therefore, subject to precedents, said Patrick Parenteau, Professor Emeritus of Vermont’s Law and the Postgraduate School that has handled cases of endangered species.
Due to the current definition of damage, “many, many millions of land acres have been preserved” to help keep lives to living species, he said.
The problem is of particular concern in Hawaii, which has more endangered species than any other state, 40% of the threatened and in danger of federal extinction of the nation, although it has less than 1% of the earth’s surface, according to the National Foundation of Fishing and Wildlife.
Birds are among the most vulnerable. Since humans arrived, 71 birds have become extinguished, according to the State’s Department of Land and Natural Resources. Thirty -one of the remaining 42 endemic birds are listed under the Law of Endangered Species of the United States, said the department and ten of them have not been seen in decades.
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Associated Press’s reporter, Audrey Mcavoy in Hawaii, contributed to this report.
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