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Trump Orders Review of Endangered Species Protections for Wolves
Confirmed
In Short: The move could lead to the rollback of protections for gray and Mexican wolves.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing a federal review of the protected status of gray and Mexican wolves, potentially rolling back their Endangered Species Act protections.
The order, signed Friday, instructs the interior secretary to assess whether these wolf populations meet the criteria for delisting or downlisting, and to initiate rulemaking if warranted.
According to CalMatters, the Trump administration's reinterpretation of the Endangered Species Act aims to counter what it deems 'federal overreach.' This reinterpretation has already led to significant changes, including the rescinding of a definition of harm that made it illegal to damage the habitats of endangered species.
California, home to more threatened and endangered species than any state besides Hawaii, is taking legal action against these changes. The state's attorney general's office filed two lawsuits Wednesday to block the Trump administration's revisions to the Endangered Species Act.
Eric Biber, a professor at UC Berkeley Law, noted that California's Endangered Species Act does not explicitly protect the habitats of listed species, though there is debate about the law's interpretation.
Critics argue that the executive order could undermine long-term recovery efforts for endangered wolf populations. Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project, criticized the move as a distraction to placate ranchers, who she said are already entitled to up to 100% compensation for livestock losses caused by wolves.
What's confirmed
- President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing a federal review of the protected status of gray and Mexican wolves, potentially rolling back their Endangered Species Act protections.
- The order, signed Friday, instructs the interior secretary to assess whether these wolf populations meet the criteria for delisting or downlisting, and to initiate rulemaking if warranted.
- According to CalMatters, the Trump administration's reinterpretation of the Endangered Species Act aims to counter what it deems 'federal overreach.' This reinterpretation has already led to significant changes, including the rescinding of a definition of harm that made it illegal to damage the habitats of endangered species.
- California, home to more threatened and endangered species than any state besides Hawaii, is taking legal action against these changes. The state's attorney general's office filed two lawsuits Wednesday to block the Trump administration's revisions to the Endangered Species Act.
- Eric Biber, a professor at UC Berkeley Law, noted that California's Endangered Species Act does not explicitly protect the habitats of listed species, though there is debate about the law's interpretation.
- Critics argue that the executive order could undermine long-term recovery efforts for endangered wolf populations. Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project, criticized the move as a distraction to placate ranchers, who she said are already entitled to up to 100% compensation for livestock losses caused by wolves.
What's still developing
- And they end what the administration called a “burdensome” rule that extended automatic protections to threatened species — forcing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to now hand craft rules specific to each species newly designated as threatened.
- This added work comes amid major staff cuts to the agency, which the Center for Biological Diversity reported lost more than a third of its staff under the Trump administration and faces a backlog of 400 species awaiting protection decisions.
- The administration, thus far, has protected only three, according to Noah Greenwald, endangered species co-director at the nonprofit conservation organization.
- California’s beloved condors and sea otters have rebounded from the brink of extinction thanks to the Endangered Species Act.
- Now the state is going to court to keep the 50-year-old law intact, filing two lawsuits Wednesday to block what Democratic leaders describe as the Trump administration’s rollback of its protections.
- The complaints target the Trump administration’s revisions to the Endangered Species Act, first enacted under Republican President (and Californian) Richard Nixon.
- “The Trump Administration has continuously sought to put our ecosystems in danger, which is why we continue to take them to court.” Trump’s changes, finalized in July, rescind a definition of harm that made it illegal to damage the places that endangered species call home — effectively opening up habitat where they shelter, breed and eat to mining, logging and other development.
- The Wolf Conservation Center’s compilation, based on data published in different years, lists the following state populations: The executive order does not immediately strip wolves of their federal protections.