Media Contacts
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Cody Sullivan
Associate Director of Communications, North American Climate Policy
The Nature Conservancy
Email: cody.sullivan@tnc.org
The following is a statement by Brent Keith, The Nature Conservancy’s federal lands policy lead. It is in response to reported changes that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has made to its interpretation of “take” under the Endangered Species Act, following finalization of the rescission of the Act’s longstanding definition of “harm.”
“The Endangered Species Act is a cornerstone environmental law for the United States. The purpose of the Act is to prevent extinction, conserve the ecosystems that threatened and endangered species depend, and promote species recovery.
"Recent changes to the regulatory definitions of what the law means by ‘harm’ and now the reported narrowing of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s interpretation of ‘take’ under the Act continue to restrict the protections and tools available to ensure that threatened and endangered species survive and recover. Healthy, connected habitat remains essential to the survival and recovery of species, whether the threats to those species are intentional or incidental.
"We need an effective Endangered Species Act today more than ever. It’s critical to consider how changes or damage to habitats will affect threatened or endangered species. Now is not the time to reduce protections for species, but to build better tools to support collaborative conservation planning and to provide landowners, communities and businesses with incentives to protect species.”
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The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more resilient. The Nature Conservancy is working to make a lasting difference around the world in 86 countries and territories (41 by direct conservation impact and 45 through partners) through a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. For more news, visit our newsroom or follow The Nature Conservancy on LinkedIn.