Conservation groups are fighting tooth and nail against Donald Trump\u2019s administration in an effort to stop proposed revisions to the implementation of the Endangered Species Act from taking effect.
\nWildlife organisations responded with outcry after federal agencies announced plans to \u201cmodernise\u201d and \u201cstreamline\u201d the legislation, which protects species on the brink of extinction, and other animals facing significant threats to their population. Under the new changes, species listed as \u201cthreatened\u201d would no longer receive the same protections of those listed as \u201cendangered,\u201d according to a joint statement from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s National Marine Fisheries Service.
\nBrett Hartl, the government affairs director at the Centre for Biological Diversity, described some of the proposed changes as a \u201cdeath sentence for polar bears\u201d in an interview with The Independent.
\n\u201cThis is the Trump administration quietly \u2014 but very surely \u2014 saying that when it comes to wildlife, you\u2019re out luck and on your own,\u201d he said.
\nHowever, the government claims the backlash is unwarranted.
\nGavin Shire, chief of the office of public affairs at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, told The Independent that no species will lose protections under the proposals. Rather, the department will individualize protections for newly-listed species.
\n\u201cIt won\u2019t strip protections from any species currently listed as threatened that is covered by the blanket 4D rule,\u201d he said, citing the rule which provides the same protections to both threatened and endangered species. \u201cThose protections will remain in place.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Conservation groups are fighting tooth and nail against Donald Trump\u2019s administration in an effort to stop proposed revisions to the…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":""},"categories":[191],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n