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On July 10, the Trump administration finalized a rule that removes the longstanding regulatory definition of "harm" from the Endangered Species Act. This is the most monstrous attack ever on our nation's most vulnerable species. For decades, that definition recognized that wildlife can be harmed not only through direct physical violence, but also when habitat destruction prevents animals from feeding, breeding, sheltering, or raising their young. Destroying an animal's habitat is harm.
Removing habitat destruction from the definition of harm will make it easier for reckless development to proceed in places that endangered and threatened species need to survive. Habitat loss is the number one cause of extinction. When you remove habitat protections, you remove the Endangered Species Act's most important safeguard. Habitat conservation is the cornerstone of wildlife conservation. Eliminating protection for the habitats of threatened and endangered species pushes them to extinction. This is a monstrous decision.
Stan Kotala
Altoona