US removes automatic protections for endangered animals as critics warn of extinction

Billings, Mont. (AP) – The U.S. Interior Department on Friday rescinded a rule intended to protect plants and animals identified as threatened with extinction, the latest move by President Donald Trump’s administration to dismantle key provisions of the Endangered Species Act at the behest of industry.

Instead of receiving automatic protection, species at risk will need individual protection plans once they are added to the threatened species list. This is a potentially long process where companies can seek exemptions for oil and gas exploration, mining and other development where those species live.

Opponents said it would make it harder to save wildlife awaiting federal protection that is at risk of extinction, such as monarch butterflies and alligator tortoises.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement that the Endangered Species Act has been used for too long “to halt almost any new venture in America, resulting in higher costs to families, weakening our competitiveness, and undermining our national security.”

“Success should be measured by recovering and delisting species, not by adding more species to the list,” Burgum added.

The second change finalized Friday requires officials to analyze economic impacts when determining whether habitat is essential to a species’ survival. Critics say it gives companies a chance to put their thumb on the scale so officials allow development in those areas.

“If you exclude certain industries that cause habitat destruction, in many cases you will be excluding the main threat to those species,” said Noah Greenwald of the environmental group’s Center for Biological Diversity.

Officials made similar changes during Trump’s first term, but they were reversed under former Democratic President Joe Biden.

The rules, which gave what some consider “blanket protections” for threatened species, were first adopted for wildlife in 1975 and for plants in 1977.

Read more: What to know about Rice’s whale, a rare species in the way of Trump’s plans for more drilling in the Gulf

Two groups, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Center for Property and Environmental Research, sued the Biden administration in 2024 after officials reinstated the blanket protection rule. They argued that the rule unfairly imposes the same restrictions on landowners when a species’ status improves from endangered, which is more serious, to threatened.

That removed incentives for landowners to participate in species recovery, said Jonathan Wood, vice president of the Montana Research Center.

The Trump administration’s approach allows officials to “better reward progress and encourage proactive conservation,” Wood said.

No species were added to the endangered or threatened lists in Trump’s second term. By comparison, more than 20 species were added in Trump’s first term, and about 60 during Biden’s presidency.

About 30 species are currently proposed to be listed as threatened with extinction. Besides king tortoises and alligator tortoises, they include California spotted owls and numerous snakes, fish, shellfish and insects.

Changes in government policies related to endangered plants and wildlife came faster and were more widespread in Trump’s second term than in his first.

The administration in March exempted oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said lawsuits filed by environmentalists threatened to disrupt domestic energy supplies as the United States wages war against Iran.

Read more: Trump Endangered Species Committee exempts oil and gas drilling in the Gulf from rules

Last week, Interior officials narrowed the definition of what constitutes “harm” to a species. This change will allow critical wildlife habitat to be developed as long as the animals themselves are not immediately killed or injured.

Officials this week sharply reduced the amount of critical habitat in the U.S. Rockies designated for Canada lynx, the forest-dwelling wild cats threatened by climate change and other pressures.

Also this week, Burgum said during a visit to Montana that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will transfer more management authority for grizzly bears to states where the bears live. This has been a long-standing priority for Republican governors in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.

The Endangered Species Act is credited with bringing back iconic animals including the bald eagle and the American alligator from the brink of extinction.

Burgum noted on Friday that 97% of species that received protection still enjoy it. That’s frustrating for Republican lawmakers who say the species should be removed from endangered and threatened lists more quickly once they recover.