John,

By changing the meaning of a single word, the Trump administration could gut habitat protections for all endangered species.

The Endangered Species Act prohibits “take” — basically, the harm or killing — of protected species. Take has long been defined to include harms via “significant habitat modification or degradation.” Now the Trump administration is proposing to remove that part of the definition, as if harming a species’ habitat won’t harm the species. But in fact, habitat destruction is the biggest cause of extinction.

Like so many of the administration’s other actions, this proposal would reverse critical environmental safeguards and decades of hard conservation work. It would open the door for billionaires in industries of all kinds to destroy the natural world and wipe out wildlife in the process.

Redefining harm to leave out habitat destruction could be the nail in the coffin for imperiled species across the United States and beyond, like Florida manatees, green sea turtles and spotted owls. It’s simple: You can’t save species without preserving their homes.

Speak up now to protect endangered species and their habitat — and the Endangered Species Act itself — before it’s too late. [link removed]

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Center for Biological Diversity
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