A new interpretation of the Endangered Species Act would severely hinder its ability to protect over 1,600 at-risk species currently listed under the federal law.
According to the reinterpretation, revealed in a Sept. 14 memo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Director Brian Nesvik, any accidental harming or killing of endangered species would no longer be considered illegal. Only actions that specifically aim to injure or kill wildlife would constitute ‘take’ prohibited by the 1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA).
“A vessel that inadvertently strikes a whale has not taken it, because the vessel’s course was not set against the whale,” the memo reads. It adds, “Felling a tree is not a take of the bats roosting in it unless the tree is felled for the purpose of killing or capturing them.”
The change effectively gives economic activities, like logging, mining and industrial development, a free pass to kill endangered wildlife, so long as they didn’t target them intentionally. Given that most killings of endangered species in the U.S. occur incidentally, the consequences could spell disaster for species already on the brink.
