US Interior Department rolls back Endangered Species Act protections

On Friday the U.S. Interior Department, led by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, cancelled a decades‑old rule that automatically extended Endangered Species Act (ESA) safeguards to species listed as “threatened.” The so‑called “blanket rule” dating from 1975 is replaced by a requirement that each newly listed species receive an individualized protection plan, a process critics say will delay or deny protection for dozens of imperiled animals and plants, including monarch butterflies, alligator snapping turtles, Florida manatees and the California spotted owl.

At the same time the agency finalized a second rule that obliges officials to weigh economic impacts when designating “critical habitat,” allowing corporations to argue that habitat protection would hurt their projects. The administration argues the changes cut regulatory burdens, lower project costs and support energy independence, while environmental groups warn the moves constitute a “one‑way ticket to extinction” for vulnerable wildlife.

The policy shift marks the latest in a series of Trump‑era rollbacks of the ESA, reversing protections that had been reinstated under the Biden administration.