Buchanan Blasts Trump Administration on Endangered Species Protection Rollback

WASHINGTON – Congressman Vern Buchanan (R-Longboat Key) urged the Trump Administration this week to drop plans to weaken the Endangered Species Act, calling the proposal "an assault against nature."

"I am writing today to urge you to reconsider the Interior and Commerce Department’s ill-advised proposal to eliminate key protections established by the Endangered Species Act (ESA)," Buchanan said in his letter to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. "The more than 45-year-old law is the gold standard for conservation and the protection of wildlife."

Specifically, the administration’s new plan would:

• Eliminate automatic protections for threatened plant and animal species. Under current law, all threatened species receive the same protections as endangered species.
• Reduce the current requirements for scientific review and consultation with federal agencies before approving permits for activities such as oil and gas drilling and construction projects.
• Make it easier to remove a species from threatened or endangered status by reducing the current set of requirements for delisting.

Buchanan strongly denounced the rule when it was initially announced in 2018 in a letter to administration officials. Barring any actions to block or amend the proposal, the final rule is set to take effect 30 days after it is formally published in the Federal Register.

"It would be unconscionable to weaken the very safeguards that have kept these animals alive for nearly half a century, especially in the wake of a recent UN report showing that one million species of wildlife and plants are now threatened with extinction across the globe," Buchanan stated.

Buchanan introduced the Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act in May. The bill would authorize the Interior secretary to designate National Wildlife Corridors on federal lands and establish an annual $50 million grant program for states, localities and private landowners to increase connectivity for native species. Buchanan says it would protect many iconic species of Florida wildlife, including the panther, manatee and alligator.

The Endangered Species Act was signed into law by former President Richard Nixon in 1973.