This blog presents a recent op-ed in USA Today that explores what the future may bring for wildlife and wild places if we fail to take action to protect them.
In Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax,” the greedy Once-ler chops down all the Truffula trees ‒ ignoring the Lorax’s warnings until the land is barren and the animals are gone. What was meant as a cautionary children’s tale today feels more like a prophecy becoming reality.
Right now, President Donald Trump's administration is seeking to implement sweeping rollbacks to some of our country’s bedrock wildlife regulations. These rollbacks would degrade habitat on public lands, undermine decades of recovery efforts and accelerate the extinction crisis we face today.
They represent the modern-day ax at the base of our Truffula trees. And, unless we act, the ax will keep swinging.
It's not too late to save our natural treasures from Trump
The administration recently proposed rolling back the “blanket 4(d) rule,” a regulation that automatically provides threatened species the same protections as endangered ones. Without this safeguard, species like the Florida manatee will be more vulnerable to harm and exploitation, undoing years of recovery progress and pushing them closer to endangered status.
This is just one of several assaults the administration is preparing to launch against the Endangered Species Act and the wildlife it protects from extinction.
One of the most dangerous changes on the table is the removal of the act’s regulatory definition of “harm.” An estimated 90% of act-listed species are imperiled by habitat loss. Eliminating this definition is a blatant attempt to eliminate protections for their habitats ‒ in other words, their homes.
Why? To pave the way for unbridled oil and gas drilling, logging, mining and development in the oceans, other waterways, forests, deserts, prairies and marshes that are home to iconic animals, like the North American wolverine, whooping crane and so many others.
From there, the threats grow. A presidential executive order, titled “Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting to Unleash American Energy,” calls for "sunsetting” all of the act's regulations, as well as regulations implementing many other bedrock environmental laws.
If fully implemented, this unprecedented dismantling of our conservation framework would trade irreplaceable ecosystems for short-term profits. Because the act's species listings are implemented by regulations, declaring their immediate expiration could result in species like the Florida panther, red-cockaded woodpecker and sea otter losing the protections they need to ensure they do not disappear forever.
Additional proposed changes to the regulations implementing the act would weaken the ability to list species, shrink critical habitat protections, and loosen standards for federal agencies charged with protecting species and habitats every time they take actions putting species at risk, such as approving logging plans in our national forests or approving oil drilling operations on our public lands.
Why mess with an unqualified success story? Regulations work.
These regulations are in place because they work. In fact, the act is 99% effective. Nearly all species listed as endangered or threatened, including the bald eagle, blue whale and peregrine falcon, have been saved from extinction.
Hundreds more are on the path to recovery today. Despite this track record, the Trump administration is blatantly making interlocking decisions with dire implications for wildlife, habitats and our shared American conservation values.
Species already at risk of extinction could be wiped off the map in a matter of years. There are only an estimated 18 adult red wolves ‒ a wolf species found only in the United States, making it uniquely American ‒ remaining on our landscape. And only about 50 Rice’s whales still swim in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, recently renamed by the U.S. government as Gulf of America.
Imagine your next hike, your next trip to the beach, your next family road trip devoid of the wildlife that makes these experiences so special. Imagine a world that no longer has wolves howling across the hills, grizzly bears grazing on berries and catching salmon, or sea turtles hatching along our sandy shores.
These aren’t far-fetched fears. This is the future we’re barreling toward unless we raise our voices and demand a halt to this reckless sell-off of our natural heritage.
Our wildlife is a source of wonder, pride and unity. It's one of the few national treasures that still brings Americans together. Every life is touched by the wild, whether we notice it or not.
The Once-ler ended up with nothing but Truffula stumps and a broken dream. His warning was clear: “UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
We cannot wait until our habitats are destroyed, our species are teetering on the brink of extinction and our natural world is no longer recognizable to say we should have acted sooner. America does not have to face the Once-ler’s bleak future. We must tell the Trump administration that we will not trade our irreplaceable wildlife and public lands for short-term profits.
Please sign Defenders of Wildlife’s petition and ensure your voice is heard.
Jane Davenport is a senior attorney with Defenders of Wildlife. Her litigation and legal advocacy work for the conservation organization encompasses a wide range of species, from marine wildlife such as whales, dolphins, sharks and sea turtles to freshwater aquatic species and bats.
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