Defenders Opposes “Breathtakingly Awful” Attempt to Gut Endangered Species Act with Appalling Rewrite

Defenders of Wildlife opposes one of the worst-ever attempts to gut the Endangered Species Act, the “ESA Amendments Act of 2024.”  Sponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, the draft bill being heard today in the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries demolishes many of the core tenets of the landmark conservation bill, warps its foundational reliance on best available science and increases the potential for political interference. It also drastically reduces protections for imperiled species and all but fast tracks the extinction of our nation’s beloved wildlife. 

“The Endangered Species Act represents the promise we as Americans made to leave behind a legacy that included the amazing wonders of our natural world,” said Robert Dewey, vice president of government relations for Defenders of Wildlife. “It is heartbreaking to see the willingness of some lawmakers to discard that promise and so willingly endorse extinction. We hope our other elected leaders think hard before making any similar decision, so far removed from the desires of the American public who overwhelmingly support the Endangered Species Act and our nation’s wildlife.”

As one of the most potently damaging single bills ever introduced attempting to deconstruct the ESA, the proposed rewrite would include delaying listing decisions for species in dire need of protection and limiting the amount of critical habitat the federal government may designate for their survival and recovery. It would gut protections for threatened species and allow more to be killed, harmed or harassed. It would also fast track the process for species delisting while constricting judicial review of those decisions.

 “Our nation’s wildlife needs us now more than ever in the face of the biodiversity crisis, the climate crisis and increasingly hostile attacks from lawmakers choosing to advocate for special interests and not our shared future,” said Ellen Richmond, senior attorney with Defenders of Wildlife, who will be testifying against this bill. “This breathtakingly awful bill would jettison a time-tested approach to species recovery in favor of a complex new system that does not even appear workable, let alone protective of imperiled wildlife. 

The ESA is a remarkably successful law that has saved 95% of listed species from extinction including the bald eagle, the Peregrine falcon, the American alligator and many other species. It has repeatedly suffered from severe underfunding and this year alone received less than half of what it required to be fully implemented. 

Despite misleading claims to the contrary, the ESA is remarkably flexible due to its requirement to follow the best available science. It is a common-sense law that does not impede economic development and instead provides guardrails to help protect species. 

Repeated polling has shown that the ESA enjoys wide bipartisan support from the American public, a mismatch from its treatment in our nation’s capital.