Urgent Action Needed to Protect Endangered Species
Sign our letter to stand up for wildlife
The Trump administration is rolling back protections in the Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has protected vulnerable animals for over 50 years, preventing the extinction of 99% of listed species. Iconic animals such as bald eagles, humpback whales, grey wolves, and grizzly bears have been rescued from the brink of extinction, but now the Endangered Species Act is under attack.
The Trump administration is rolling back important protections in the ESA, and the public has 30 days to comment.
The proposed rule changes would:
- make it harder to add new species to the endangered list
- make it easier to remove species who are already protected under the ESA
- remove key protections for threatened species
- allow economic arguments instead of science to be used for listing species
- limit protection for critical habitats
- make it more difficult to protect new critical habitat
- cut safeguards for species affected by climate change
- weaken the consultation process that keeps wildlife safe
Bottom line: these changes could push some of America’s most vulnerable plants and animals closer to extinction.
Join us and raise your voice to protect endangered species
Our letter from FOUR PAWS USA and our Supporters
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is both an incredibly successful and a remarkably popular piece of bipartisan legislation, and we oppose the rule changes that the Trump administration has proposed.
Since its signing in 1973, the ESA has united Americans. Originally passed in a vote of 92-0 in the Senate and 355-4 in the House, and supported by politicians and citizens on both sides of the aisle, the ESA continues to enjoy overwhelming support from the public. A June 2025 poll revealed that more than four out of five Americans support the Endangered Species Act, a finding that is consistent across people living in urban, suburban, and rural environments. The ESA remains a shining example of what our country can accomplish when we come together to cooperate in the name of a common, worthy goal.
Over the last 50 years, the ESA has protected 99% of the listed species, which is an extraordinary achievement that has historically been celebrated across the political spectrum. While the ESA has led to the successful recovery of many prominent species, such as bald eagles, grizzly bears, humpback whales, and more, many of these species still require protection in order to allow for their full recovery, and the proposed rule changes would be devastating for wildlife in the United States and beyond.
The government’s proposal would make it harder to add new species to the endangered list and make it easier to remove species and critical habitats that are currently protected by the ESA. The new rules would denigrate scientific decision-making and favor shaky economic arguments while weakening key habitat protection and cutting safeguards for wild animals in need.
Human health, animal health, and environmental health are all connected, and protecting America’s wildlife and their habitats benefits everyone. For example, protecting our endangered pollinators keeps American’s crops and food supply healthy. Protecting species like bats, who hunt mosquitoes and other insects that may carry disease, can help prevent public health crises. Maintaining biodiversity helps keep our water and air clean, and we owe it to future generations to safeguard the health of our natural resources and wildlife. Weakening landmark environmental regulations based on short-term economic interests of private industry is at best unwise, and at worst dangerous. This is not a wrong that can be righted in the future. Extinction is forever.
We ask the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to safeguard current ESA protections, and to prevent the instatement of rules that do not use sound science, make it more difficult to list species in need of protection, and make it more likely that animals who continue to need ESA protections are delisted. Threatened and endangered species in both the U.S. and around the world deserve our protection. To globally safeguard our wildlife for years to come, we ask you to stand with the will of the American people who want all wild animals to live and thrive, especially in America’s wild spaces.
Sincerely,
FOUR PAWS USA and our supporters
