Trump proposals will weaken and limit protection by Endangered Species Act, environmentalists say
PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- Bay Area researcher Stuart Weiss is adept at spotting delicate species of birds and butterflies. But envisioning their future is getting trickier. That's because of moves by the Trump administration that opponents say could dramatically limit the power of the Endangered Species Act and critical protection for wildlife habitat.
"It's just been an incredible tool that allows, you know, for really critical areas. It's basically stopping projects that are going to really harm the endangered species," says Weiss.
And the keyword is harm. Last year, the administration proposed a far stricter definition. Essentially, keeping it illegal to directly harm a protected animal itself, but not necessarily the habitat that it depends on.
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"So if you take that away and you only count, like, deliberately hunting or taking an endangered species, I'd say the level of effective protection goes down by like 99%," he said.
And wildlife communities are under attack right now," said Tierra Curry, senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity.
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Curry believes the administration is not only limiting the scope of the Endangered Species Act but also attempting to limit new species from being listed for protection. Including the western monarch butterfly population, whose numbers have plummeted since the 1990's. The organization is now suing, accusing the United States Fish and Wildlife Service of delaying a final listing, which could protect the monarchs and certain habitats from threats like pesticides.
"And there are several proposals to weaken the act, to make it harder to get animals protected under the act, to make it easier to remove protections and to make protections less meaningful. So it's just an assault on all fronts," Curry said.
At the same time, California is working to step up protection on the state level. Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill requiring state Fish and Game to track species that could be losing Federal protections, and if necessary, begin the process of including them under California's Endangered Species Laws. Potentially setting up a legal and environmental tug of war over some of the state's most vulnerable species and their habitats.
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"That's been maybe the most important part of the Endangered Species Act is that we're able to conserve the habitats of these species," Weiss
Environmental groups argue that time is also critical. Some studies have predicted that species like the Western Monarch could be facing a significant threat of extinction before the end of the century.
