Stop the Attack on Endangered Species: Support HR 9901

The Trump administration’s proposed weakening of habitat protections under the Endangered Species Act threatens the foundation of species conservation. By narrowing the definition of “harm” to exclude habitat destruction and degradation, the administration could allow logging, mining, and development to damage the environments endangered and threatened species depend on—even when these activities do not directly target the animals themselves. This is not a minor regulatory adjustment. Habitat loss is one of the primary drivers of species decline and extinction. For decades, the Endangered Species Act’s habitat protections have helped prevent extinctions and support the recovery of imperiled wildlife. Removing these safeguards would undermine the law’s central purpose by permitting the gradual destruction of critical breeding grounds, feeding areas, and shelter. A species can be driven toward extinction without a single animal being directly killed. When essential habitat is destroyed, wildlife may lose the ability to feed, reproduce, migrate, or find refuge. Treating that destruction as unrelated to “harm” would make the ESA far less effective and allow species to decline until recovery is no longer possible. The timing of this proposed rollback is especially concerning. Wildlife already faces intense pressure from climate change, pollution, habitat fragmentation, and other forms of environmental degradation. Weakening habitat protections now could cause cascading losses across interconnected ecosystems, with consequences that may be impossible to reverse once habitats are destroyed. As your constituent, I urge you to support H.R. 9901, the Safeguarding Endangered Species Act, and to support or introduce companion legislation in the Senate. Congress should reaffirm that “harm” under the ESA includes habitat destruction and degradation when those actions kill or injure protected species. It should also ensure that federal agencies cannot weaken this longstanding protection through regulatory reinterpretation. Our nation’s biological heritage and the future of countless species depend on strong, enforceable habitat protections. Please take immediate action to defend the Endangered Species Act and let me know your position on H.R. 9901.