Newly Uncovered Trump Administration Directive is Drastic Escalation in Attack on Endangered Species

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An internal U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service memo uncovered by The New York Times reveals that the Trump administration is moving to drastically narrow one of the Endangered Species Act’s most fundamental protections. The September 14 guidance says killing or injuring a protected animal would only violate the law if the person or company specifically meant to target that animal.

Under the new interpretation, an activity that foreseeably kills endangered wildlife would not violate the law if killing the animal was not its intended purpose. The memo states that a vessel striking a whale would not qualify as “take” unless it was intentionally steered toward the whale. Cutting down a tree containing protected birds would similarly be allowed unless the tree was felled for the purpose of killing or capturing them.

The guidance represents a radical escalation from the administration’s July decision to rescind the longstanding definition of “harm,” which protected animals from significant habitat destruction that resulted in injury or death. Sierra Club is among the conservation groups currently challenging the rollback in federal court.

In response, Loren Blackford, Sierra Club Executive Director, released the following statement:
“This is a shocking and shameless attempt to gut the Endangered Species Act and give powerful industries permission to kill endangered wildlife. Trump is telling corporations they can carry out activities they know will kill imperiled animals and escape responsibility as long as the killing was not their stated goal. Sierra Club will fight this with everything we have.”