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Representatives Debbie Dingell (MI-06) and Don Beyer (VA-08), co-chairs of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Caucus, along with Vern Buchanan (FL-16), introduced a resolution recognizing Friday, May 16 as Endangered Species Day. The resolution highlights the strong role that the ESA has played in safeguarding America’s imperiled species and the need to prioritize conservation efforts to address the biodiversity crisis impacting plants and wildlife worldwide. 

The critical protections in the Endangered Species Act are currently at risk due to a Trump Administration proposal to rescind the definition of “harm” under the law. The proposed rule change would prohibit only actions that directly hurt or kill actual animals, but not the habitats they rely on. We know that habitat loss and destruction are the leading causes of species decline and extinction. If finalized, this change would be devastating to already fragile species and put currently healthy ones at risk.

“For more than five decades, the Endangered Species Act has been our most effective tool to protect America’s imperiled wildlife, preventing the extinction of some of our most beloved animals like the bald eagle, grizzly bear, and Florida manatee,” said Dingell. “Healthier wildlife populations mean healthier ecosystems, which results in stronger shorelines, less intense wildfires, better water quality, and fewer pests, among many other positive impacts. As the United States continues to face an unprecedented and worsening biodiversity crisis, and the critical protections of the ESA are under attack, we must fight harder than ever to defend them.”
 
“When the Trump-Musk-Vance Administration wrongly and carelessly fired probationary federal workers, the ESA programs based here in the Northern Virginia office lost species expert biologists with important state and community relationships critical to recovery goals. They lost people who were working to make the endangered species consultation process more efficient so infrastructure projects could move forward in ways that helped protect vulnerable wildlife.” said Beyer. “The ESA is currently working to protect and recover more than 2,000 species of plants and animals, all crucial to maintaining our country’s rich biodiversity and natural heritage. Cutting the core, dependable investment of the federal government’s staff time, expertise, and dollars could have devastating impacts, including breaking up longstanding public-private partnerships. It’s on all of us who support the ESA to support those that work, often silently, to keep the Endangered Species Act alive and properly functioning! I thank my colleagues, Reps. Dingell and Buchanan for helping champion this fight with me.” 

In the United States and around the world, more than 2,300 species are recognized as at risk of extinction now or in the foreseeable future, and many more are experiencing declines in populations and future viability. Many scientists categorize our planet’s current biodiversity crisis as the sixth mass extinction event, with plant and wildlife species across the globe facing heightened risk of extinction that is largely driven by human activity.
 
Dingell has long worked to protect endangered species across America, fighting to prevent the rollback of the critical safeguards in the Endangered Species Act under the previous Trump Administration.
 
View the full text of the resolution here. Learn more about the ESA Caucus here.