Public Comment Ends December 22 to Defend the Endangered Species Act- Our Work Continues
December 22, 2025
On November 19th the Trump Administration first published a proposal by US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to roll back Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections, specifically focusing on the removal of the “blanket rule” and other language that would impact habitat and endangered species. Other amendments include changing language regarding critical habitat, the definition of “Harm” and how agencies cooperate.
The Agencies gave only 30 days for the public to respond. With our Endangered Species Coalition, we provided nearly 300,000 comments to USFWS and NMFS and Shark Stewards contribvuted nearly 10% of those!
The ESA has been one of the most effective conservation laws ever created, preventing the extinction of 99% of listed species. It provides critical protections including required recovery plans, restrictions on harmful activities, and protection of essential habitat.
But there are efforts underway to undermine the ESA by:
- Reducing habitat protections for listed species
- Making it easier to remove species from the endangered list prematurely
- Limiting consideration of climate change impacts
- Reducing penalties for accidentally killing endangered species
- Slowing down the listing process for species in crisis
For hammerheads, these changes would be catastrophic. The Eastern Atlantic and Eastern Pacific populations listed as Endangered would lose critical protections just when they need them most. The Central & Southwest Atlantic and Indo-West Pacific populations listed as Threatened would face increased fishing pressure.
The Department of the Interior, under the leadership of Secretary Doug Burgum, announced a sweeping set of proposals to roll back the core protections of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
For fifty years, the ESA has been the “emergency room” for America’s wildlife. It brought the California Gray Whale back from the brink of extinction. It allowed Southern Sea Otters to repopulate our kelp forests. It is the lifeline for endangered Oceanic Whitetip, Scalloped Hammerhead and Soupfin sharks. The ESA works because it was fast, strict, and based on science.
ACTION ALERT! We have revised the public comment petition to address agency recview and direct the Congress to defend the ESA.
SIGN THE PETITION
COMMENT PERIOD CLOSED FOR NOW
Send an email via Regulations.gov with the docket numbers below, or mail a post card to address at bottom.
After 50 years of protection, endangered animal’s safety net is being dismantled. Read the full proposal related to the Administration’s Unleashing America’s Energy in the Federal Register. Help us save endangered sharks and other marine wildlife by supporting existing law.
Note: The review period has started and may reopen
Rule Docket Number FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0029
- If the blanket rule is removed, it will deprive newly listed threatened animal and plant species from automatically receiving protections from killing, trapping, and other forms of prohibited “take.” Species now proposed for listing, like the Oceanic Whitetip, Scalloped Hammerhead and newly listed Soupfin shark all could be left unprotected for years even after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalizes the listings.
- I urge you to withdraw this proposal. Delaying protections for “threatened” species leaves them vulnerable to becoming endangered.
Submit Digital Public Comments
- Listing & Critical Habitat comment form. (Link)
- Blanket Rule public comment form. (Link)
- Critical Habitat Analysis comment form. (Link)
- Interagency Cooperation Regulations comment form. (Link)
Rule Docket Number: FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0039
- I urge you to withdraw this proposal. Endangered Species Act listings must be guided by science and prohibit economic considerations. Federal agencies should not be allowed to take actions that push listed species closer to extinction.
- I urge you to withdraw this proposal. Industry should not get a “rubber stamp” for projects that put federally endangered species more at risk.
- The narrowing of the definition of “critical habitat” to exclude currently unoccupied but historic habitat would be disastrous. Historic habitat is vital for the recovery of imperiled species, especially as the areas where they currently live shrink due to the rapidly changing climate and the chain effects of ongoing biodiversity loss.
- I urge you to withdraw this proposal. Critical habitat protections should be strengthened, but this proposal does the very opposite by making it harder to designate critical habitat and allowing destruction to designated critical habitat.
Rule Docket Number: FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0044
- I urge you to maintain strong compliance measures for federal agencies. The proposed rule makes it easier to greenlight destructive activities, such as logging or drilling. These actions will put protected species in harm’s way.
- ESA Section 7 calls for interagency cooperation. When federal agencies coordinate, share information, and carefully evaluate the impacts of their actions, they help prevent avoidable harm and promote long-term conservation.
- Strong interagency collaboration upholds the law and, importantly, strengthens transparency, improves decision-making, and reflects our shared responsibility to safeguard biodiversity for future generations.
Rule Docket Number: FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0048
- I urge you to keep the analysis method for determining critical habitat, habitat that are essential to species recovery
- I am concerned this proposal will lead to extinctions. It will exclude too much area from critical habitat designations. Habitat loss is the top driver of species extinction.
- In the United States, species proposed for listing, such as the Monarch butterfly and the Bethany Beach firefly, will need critical habitat protections. Science-based critical habitat designations are essential to truly recover endangered species.
Send a Postcard
To mail a hard copy to the USFWS address with the docket number (above) in the “Attn” line. Include your name, relevant expertise, supporting data, and clearly state your position on the proposed ESA changes. Public Comments Processing
Attn: [Your Docket Number, e.g., FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0039]
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
MS: PRB/3W
5275 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22041-3803
These must arrive by the end of the comment period on December 22, 2025.