The Trump administration has proposed rolling back regulations that strengthen protections for threatened and endangered species.

The Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Nov. 19 four proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act as President Donald Trump tries to reduce what he calls burdensome federal regulations for businesses. One proposed rule would eliminate the "blanket rule," which automatically applies endangered species protections to threatened species. Another would change the considerations for designating critical habitats for a species' survival.

“These revisions end years of legal confusion and regulatory overreach, delivering certainty to states, tribes, landowners and businesses while ensuring conservation efforts remain grounded in sound science and common sense," Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in a statement.

The proposed rules are open for public comment until Dec. 22.

What species could be most impacted by proposed rules?

According to the Endangered Species Coalition, which opposes the proposed rules, hundreds of vulnerable plants and wildlife could be more at risk of extinction if they pass. The Defenders of Wildlife also argued that another proposed rule on interagency cooperation could hurt specific species. The Coalition, its partners and the Defenders mentioned these species as being more at risk:

  • Monarch butterflies
  • Sea turtles
  • Manatees
  • Wolverines
  • Northern spotted owl
  • Cook Inlet beluga whale

“America’s imperiled wildlife remains at an uncertain crossroads, with one road pointing toward extinction and the other toward recovery," said Andrew Bowman, president and CEO at Defenders of Wildlife said in a statement. "The Trump administration’s proposals announced today seek to undermine critical portions of the Endangered Species Act and will make recovery for many of those species that much more difficult.”

Allowing economic, national security to be a factor in critical habitat

The ESA provides regulations for permits for oil, gas, mining, electric transmission and other enterprises on federal lands, according to Reuters. Two of the proposed rules specifically mention allowing economic factors to be a part of the considerations for critical habitats.

The rules would restore 2019 and 2020 regulations that were then replaced with bolstered protections under the Biden administration.

"Trump’s attacks on the Endangered Species Act seriously misread the room," Earthjustice attorney Kristen Boyles said in a statement. "Most people are not going to allow the sacrifice of our natural world to a bunch of billionaires and corporate interests.”

The 'blanket rule' and the difference between endangered and threatened species

Another proposed rule would end an automatic protection for threatened species known as the "blanket rule." An endangered species is at risk of extinction, and a threatened species is likely to become endangered in the near future.

The blanket rule gives endangered species protections to threatened species, unless a species-specific exception was determined by a federal agency. The proposed rule would flip that and require protections to be made for each threatened species.

The proposed rule "ensures that protections are necessary and advisable to conserve each species without imposing unnecessary restrictions on others," according to the Interior Department.

Contributing: Reuters

Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at KCrowley@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X (Twitter), Bluesky and TikTok.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Extinctions ahead? Species that may get less protection in Trump plan

Reporting by Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect