Destroying an imperiled species’ nest or habitat is no longer illegal unless it’s intentional under the Trump administration’s rollback of the definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act finalized Friday.
The rollback, proposed in 2025, leaves “harm” undefined, allowing developers to avoid obtaining permits to modify habitat for an endangered or threatened species to make way for construction, mining, or other development. The US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1981 defined “harm” under the ESA as any action that hurts or kills species, including modifying or degrading an imperiled species’ habitat.
The agency said it’s fully deleting that definition without replacing it because it “was an unlawful regulatory intrusion that interfered with private property rights.” The repeal will relieve the economic burden businesses face in complying with the current rule, the Fish and Wildlife Service said.
Now, the ESA would regulate only direct physical harm to protected plants and animals, and environmental groups are expected to challenge the rollback in court. Habitat loss is among the primary reasons species become endangered.
Deleting the harm definition will allow loggers to cut trees containing the nests of endangered or threatened birds unless the birds, such as the northern spotted owl, are physically present in the tree when cut.
The repeal is among numerous steps the Trump administration is taking to weaken or remove endangered species protections, benefiting industry. The most consequential of those came in March when the Endangered Species Committee, or “God Squad,” exempted all Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operations from the ESA, potentially imperiling Rice’s whales and sea turtles.
Industry groups have long called for the “harm” definition to be repealed.
Under the longstanding definition, “the mere threat of any habitat modification immediately triggers” a consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service, adding “additional time to a lengthy permitting process,” the National Mining Association said in 2025 comments to the agency.
The Center for Biological Diversity will challenge the rollback in court, Noah Greenwald, endangered species co-director for the environmental group told Bloomberg Law in April.
“You can’t protect species without protecting the places they live,” he said.
