# Trump Rule Lets Companies Legally Kill Endangered Species by Accident

- URL: https://twotakes.us/stories/trump-rule-lets-companies-legally-kill-endangered-species-by-accident
- Published: 2026-09-18T13:04:12.417056+00:00
- Topics: endangered-species-act, environment, deregulation, wildlife-conservation, trump-administration

## What the left says
- The new interpretation removes accountability for foreseeable harm, letting companies knowingly destroy habitat as long as killing wildlife wasn't their explicit goal.
- This reverses decades of precedent under which courts and agencies held that habitat destruction and incidental deaths counted as illegal 'harm' to protected species.
- More than 1,600 critically imperiled species, including grizzly bears, manatees, spotted owls, whales, and salmon, could lose meaningful federal protection as a result.
- The change was made quietly through an internal memo rather than through public rulemaking or congressional action, following an earlier repeal of the ESA's definition of 'harm.'

## What the right says
- The Fish and Wildlife Service is aligning its enforcement with the law's original text, which was intended to penalize deliberate targeting of protected species, not incidental effects of lawful activity.
- The move follows a 2024 Supreme Court decision limiting how far federal agencies can stretch their own interpretive authority over statutes passed by Congress.
- Businesses and landowners have long faced legal risk and costly delays for activities like logging, farming, or construction even when animal deaths were unintended and unavoidable.
- Interior Secretary Doug Burgum argues the ESA has been used for years to obstruct legitimate land use and impose burdens on American families and businesses beyond what the law requires.

## Common ground
- The Endangered Species Act's definition of 'take' includes harming, wounding, or killing protected species, and the memo directly reinterprets that definition.
- The policy shift marks a significant change from how the Fish and Wildlife Service has historically enforced the law.
- Industries such as logging, mining, and construction have a direct stake in how strictly the ESA is enforced.
- Both sides recognize that the rule change will have major practical consequences for how protected species and economic development interact.

## Sources
- [ABC News](https://abcnews.com/Business/wireStory/trump-administration-allows-inadvertent-killing-endangered-species-136540887) (Lean Left)
- [AllSides](https://www.allsides.com/news/2026-09-17-0700/environment-trump-administration-moves-gut-core-endangered-species-protection) (Center)
- [AllSides](https://www.allsides.com/news/2026-09-17-0700/environment-perpetual-villainy-trump-admin-preps-yet-another-attack-endangered-species) (Center)
- [AllSides](https://www.allsides.com/news/2026-09-17-0700/environment-ny-times-trump-could-gut-endangered-species-act) (Center)
- [Newsmax](https://www.newsmax.com/politics/endangered-species-hunting/2026/09/17/id/1269823) (Right)
- [The Guardian US](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/17/endangered-species-trump-officials) (Left)
- [The Hill](https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/6096057-trump-endangered-species-esa/) (Center)
- [The Hill](https://thehill.com/newsletters/energy-environment/6096975-trump-memo-reduces-esa-protections-newsletter/) (Center)

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