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Sam's News — conservation — 2026-10-01

Conservation

8 Trump Administration Removes Habitat Destruction from Endangered Species Act Protections

The Trump administration finalized a rule on July 10, 2026, eliminating the regulatory definition of "harm" under the Endangered Species Act that previously protected habitat destruction. The change, effective September 14, 2026, removes nearly all habitat protections for endangered species, allowing farming, drilling, mining, logging, and development to proceed more easily in areas where endangered species live, despite habitat loss being the primary driver of extinction.

  • The administration rescinded the decades-old regulatory definition of 'harm' that included 'significant habitat modification or degradation,' effective September 14, 2026
  • Habitat destruction, on its own, will no longer count as illegal 'take' under the Endangered Species Act
  • The change reverses protections upheld by the Supreme Court in the 1995 Babbitt v. Sweet Home case regarding old-growth forest protections for spotted owls
  • Habitat loss remains the number one threat to endangered species according to conservationists

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