US restores protections for endangered species that Trump had revoked

BILLINGS, Montana (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday reinstated rules to protect endangered plants and animals that had been repealed under Donald Trump.

Among the changes announced, the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will reinstate a decades-old regulation that establishes blanket protections for species newly classified as threatened.

The blanket protection regulation was abandoned in 2019 as part of a series of changes to species protection law enforcement under the Trump administration that were encouraged by the industry. Such changes came as extinctions accelerate around the world due to habitat loss and other pressures.

Under the new rules, authorities will also not consider economic impacts when deciding whether animals and plants need protection. And wildlife service and National Marine Fisheries Service rules make it easier to designate areas as critical to the survival of a species, even if it is no longer found in those places.

The Associated Press obtained details about the proposed rules, which could take a year to finalize, ahead of their release.

Species that could benefit from the rules include threatened freshwater fish and mussels in the country’s southeast, where in many cases the aquatic animals are not present in parts of their original range, officials said.

FWS Director Martha Williams said the rule changes show the agency’s commitment to using the best available science to halt population declines as “climate change, degraded and fragmented habitat, species invasive species and wildlife diseases” threaten many species.

Environmentalists had expressed frustration that it took years for Biden to act on some of the setbacks of the Trump era. Fueling his urgency is the prospect of a new Republican government after the 2024 elections that could once again remove protections.