ESA rule narrows protection by focusing on direct harm, risking endangered habitats

The Trump administration issued a rule redefining 'harm' under the Endangered Species Act to exclude habitat destruction that indirectly jeopardizes endangered species, sharply narrowing decades of protection and undermining Habitat Conservation Plans. Set to take effect in September, the change limits protections to direct, intentional harm to individual animals, prompting lawsuits that could reach the Supreme Court. While critical habitat protections and the permitting framework remain, many environmental legal scholars warn the move could eviscerate the Act’s extinction-prevention power and tilt land-use decisions toward developers unless the courts or Congress restore broader protections.