PHOENIX — The Trump administration finalized a rule Friday that changes how agencies enforce the Endangered Species Act and eliminates a key protection for imperiled wildlife against logging, oil drilling and other activities.
The administration narrowed the definition of "harm" under the landmark law — a change with broad implications.
For decades, the government defined harm broadly to include encroachments on places with threatened and endangered animals. The change announced Friday would allow oil and gas drilling, mining, logging and and other development on critical wildlife habitats so long as the animals themselves aren't killed or injured.
Environmentalists warned the move could cause some species to go extinct by opening the door to habitat destruction. Industry representatives and their Republican allies have long argued the landmark 1973 environmental law is wielded too broadly, to the detriment of economic growth.
Administration officials said they were returning the law to its original intent, following a 2024 Supreme Court decision that limited the authority of federal agencies to interpret environmental statutes passed by Congress. They described the government's prior definition of harm as an intrusion on private property rights.
It's among a suite of changes to wildlife protections that officials have pursued under President Donald Trump.
"For years, federal agencies abused the ESA to obstruct lawful land use and burden American families and businesses," Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.
The change was first proposed in April 2025 and environmentalists fought unsuccessfully to block it. Habitat destruction is the biggest cause of extinction, according to wildlife advocates.
"This is one of the most horrific attempts to harm wildlife in American history and a gift to the oil barons and foreign mining companies," said Aaron Weiss, the executive director of the Center for Western Priorities.
The Endangered Species Act is credited with bringing back iconic animals — including the bald eagle, American alligator and California condor — from the brink of extinction.
Republicans rolled back several provisions of the law in Trump's first term, only to have those moves reversed under Democratic President Joe Biden.
Copyright 2026 NPR
