UNITED STATES — Every year on the third Friday in May, people around the world participate in Endangered Species Day by celebrating, learning about and taking action to protect threatened and endangered species, according to the Endangered Species Coalition (ESC).
Endangered Species Day, which falls on Friday, May 16, this year, is “a day set aside to both raise awareness of the continued plight of endangered species and celebrate those that have recovered because of conservation efforts,” according to the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
This year, Endangered Species Day marks the introduction of a proposed rule that would eliminate habitat protections for endangered and threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). On April 17, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration proposed rescinding the regulatory definition of “harm” in ESA regulations.
“The existing regulatory definition of ‘harm,’ which includes habitat modification, runs contrary to the best meaning of the statutory term ‘take,'” the FWS wrote in the proposed rule. Justice Antonin Scalia told NPR that the ESA’s interpretation of “take,” in the context of wild animals, should be interpreted more literally, as an affirmative act directed against a particular animal, not an act that indirectly causes injury to a population. The current administration cites Scalia’s argument in its proposal, saying it’s “undertaking this change to adhere to the single, best meaning of the ESA.”
The public has until Monday, May 19, to share comments and concerns about the proposed ESA rule. As of Tuesday, May 13, more than 128,000 comments had been electronically submitted. Holly Jones, American restoration ecologist, conservation biologist and associate professor at Northern Illinois University, wrote in a submitted comment to the FWS that the rule would “gut the ESA.”
“The proposed rule, which removes habitat protection for endangered species, means the very cause of their endangerment, habitat loss, will continue unabated,” Jones wrote. “Simply put, this rule will result in endangered species going extinct. … A recent study showed that reducing habitat loss is the second most effective conservation action governments can take (Langhammer et al. 2024), and this rule would remove the legal mandate to protect critical habitat for endangered species.”
Enacted in 1973, ESA provides a framework to protect and recover species at risk of extinction. The ESA has been credited with saving 99% of listed species from extinction. To qualify for ESA protections, a species must first be listed under the law as either endangered or threatened, according to the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI).
In Wyoming, the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), the Wyoming Toad (Bufo hemiophrys baxteri) and the North American wolverine are listed as endangered. On November 23, 2023, the North American wolverine was the newest mammal added to the Endangered Species List. This new listing provides the species and its remaining habitat with additional protections to ensure its best chance for survival.
Governor Mark Gordon’s office filed a petition to remove grizzly bears’ “threatened” status under the ESA in January 2022, after the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population was determined to be recovered in the region. Coinciding with Endangered Species Day, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a notice in the Federal Register pushing back public comment on the federal protection of grizzly bears to Friday, May 16. According to the public comment page, in the past 60 days, more than 63,355 comments have already been submitted.
Wyoming’s threatened species also include: the Northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), the western yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus), the Canadian lynx (Lynx canadensis) and the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei).
Other “protected animals” in Wyoming include the black-footed ferret, fisher, lynx and pika. On February 24, Governor Mark Gordon signed HB0045 into law to remove the river otter’s protective status.
According to the AWI, one million species globally are at risk of extinction in the next few decades, including 27 percent of the world’s mammals, 41 percent of amphibians, 37 percent of sharks and rays and 21 percent of reptiles. This loss is driven by human activity, including habitat destruction, overexploitation, pollution and climate change.
