By Abdullahi Lukman
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is advancing a new interpretation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that would generally exclude incidental harm to protected wildlife from unlawful activity unless the animals were deliberately targeted.
The proposed interpretation, contained in an internal memo from Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik, would significantly change how the agency applies the law to activities that unintentionally injure or kill endangered and threatened species.
Under the approach, deliberate actions against protected wildlife would remain prohibited, but activities that cause unintended harm could receive different treatment.
Conservation groups have raised concerns that the change could reduce protections for species affected by habitat destruction, pollution, disrupted migration routes and other human activities that do not involve deliberate attempts to harm wildlife.
The Endangered Species Coalition said species potentially affected include piping plovers, salmon, grizzly bears and Rice’s whales. The organisation’s executive director, Susan Holmes, described the administration’s actions as part of a broader effort to alter the scope of the ESA.
The new interpretation follows a rule that removed the regulatory definition of “harm” from the ESA, which took effect on September 14. The development is also part of a series of recent changes involving endangered-species protections.
In March, the Endangered Species Committee, commonly known as the “God Squad,” approved an exemption under the ESA for specified offshore oil and gas activities in the Gulf.
Earlier in September, President Donald Trump directed the Interior Department to review protections for gray and Mexican wolves. During the announcement, Trump also suggested ranchers could shoot wolves, although administration officials said existing protections had not immediately changed.
Holmes argued that the measures could affect species whose survival depends on protection from indirect threats. She cited coastal development affecting piping plovers, dams and pollution affecting salmon, and roads, energy projects and logging fragmenting grizzly bear habitat.
She also highlighted the Rice’s whale, a species found only in U.S. waters, saying threats to its habitat could have consequences for its survival.
The Endangered Species Act has been in place for more than five decades and prohibits the unauthorised “take” of protected wildlife.
Its application to incidental harm has been the subject of regulatory and legal disputes over how far the law should extend to activities that unintentionally affect listed species.
The latest interpretation is expected to fuel further debate over the balance between wildlife protection and activities that may cause unintended harm to endangered and threatened species.
