Sam's News — conservation — 2026-09-29

Conservation

8 Trump Administration Removes Habitat Protections from Endangered Species Act

The Trump administration finalized a rule on July 10, 2026, removing habitat destruction from the regulatory definition of "harm" under the Endangered Species Act, effective September 14. This reverses decades of interpretation that protected endangered species by safeguarding their critical habitats from degradation caused by farming, drilling, mining, logging, and development.

• Rule effective September 14, 2026; removes regulatory definition of 'harm' that previously included habitat modification or degradation
• Habitat destruction previously counted as illegal 'take' under the Endangered Species Act; direct killing remains prohibited
• Supreme Court precedent Babbitt v. Sweet Home (1995) upheld habitat protections for spotted owls, now abandoned by this rule
• Species such as manatees, ocelots, Atlantic salmon, and Florida panthers lose protections from habitat loss outside designated critical habitat areas

Sources: Mongabay AI Web Searched, Center for Biological Diversity AI Web Searched