Threatened plants, animals could lose habitat protections

The Department of Interior announced Thursday controversial plans to roll back core provisions of the Endangered Species Act in what it describes as a bid to improve regulatory efficiency and reduce the burdens of such safeguards on landowners, industry and governments.

Under consideration is a proposal to rescind U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service policies that automatically extend habitat protections granted to endangered species to threatened species as well. Instead, Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said the agency wants to decide on a case-bycase basis whether to protect habitats of threatened species — animals and plants that scientists believe soon could become endangered.

Going forward, the Department of Interior plans to work with the Commerce Department to jointly determine issues, including whether land currently unoccupied by a threatened species deserves to be classified as a critical habitat — meaning one that deserves protection.

Bernhardt said the proposals were developed in response to President Donald Trump’s order a year ago directing federal agencies, including the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to revise regulations that were confusing and that discourage public participation in conservation efforts.

“We hope these proposals ameliorate some of the burdens, conflict and uncertainty within our current regulatory structure,” Bernhardt said. “A goal is to increase public buyin so that people don’t see it in such an adversarial light.”

The proposal would not affect species already listed as threatened, such as Western desert tortoises struggling to survive in the Southern California desert as temperatures rise and nutritious foliage diminishes. The Department of Interior could implement them after a 60-day public commentary period.

Environmental organizations and their supporters in Congress were outraged by the proposed changes, which they said favor industry.

Critics said they would doom hundreds of imperiled animals and plants and undermine the Endangered Species Act of 1973, one of the most popular environmental laws ever enacted.