Public Support Needed to Defend the Endangered Species Act- Our Work Continues
July 10, 2026
The Trump administration rolls back a key protection for imperiled wildlife with a new federal rule change, announced July 10, 2026,
The administration narrowed the definition of “harm” under the ESA: a change with the potential for wide ranging impacts on habitat and impacts on endnagered and threatened wildlife.
Since his first term, the Trump Administration has had its sights on weakening the ESA early on to benefit the oil and mining industries. Passed in 1973, The Endangered Species Act bans the “take” of “any endangered species of fish or wildlife,” which includes harm of protected species habitat.
The changes would greenlight oil and gas drilling, logging, mining and and other development in critical wildlife habitat listed live in, even if the animals themselves aren’t directly killed or injured. Impacts that would threaten wildlife include ocean noise, pollution or division of habitat required for the species to survive.
Background
On November 19th, 2025 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 contributed nearly 10% of those!
Despite over 50 years of protection and strong public support, this erosion of the ESA may cause long lasting or permanent damage to critically endnagered species.
ACTION ALERT! We have revised the public comment petition to address agency review and direct the Congress to defend the ESA.
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.