Administration’s Proposed Rule Would Alter Definition Of ‘Take’ For ESA Species, Critics Fear Less Habitat Protections

May 5, 2025/in Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US Fish and Wildlife Service

President Donald Trump, in an April proposed rule, has directed the Secretary of Commerce, NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to rescind the long-standing definition of “harm” to species covered by the federal Endangered Species Act. The existing definition of harm as the ESA is currently written, the Administration says, is contrary to the “best meaning” of the term “take.”