Environment — News & Analysis

Trump administration rolls back a key protection for imperiled wildlife (July 10, 2026)

PHOENIX — The Trump administration finalized a rule on Friday, July 10, 2026, 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 other development on critical wildlife habitats so long as the animals themselves are not killed or injured. Environmentalists warned the move could cause some species to go extinct by opening the door to habitat destruction, while industry representatives and their Republican allies have long argued the 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, and they described the government's prior definition of harm as an intrusion on private property rights. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement that "for years, federal agencies abused the ESA to obstruct lawful land use and burden American families and businesses." 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. Aaron Weiss, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, called it "one of the most horrific attempts to harm wildlife in American history and a gift to the oil barons and foreign mining companies." 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 President Joe Biden. The rule is among a suite of changes to wildlife protections that officials have pursued under Trump.