EPA to open habitats of endangered species to logging and mining

The Trump administration has finalized a rule that repeals a fifty-year-old protection in the Endangered Species Act, opening critical wildlife habitats to logging, mining, and development. Per The Guardian, the change narrows how the law defines "harm" — previously, it protected not just endangered animals themselves, but the habitats essential to their survival. This reverses a nineteen ninety-five Supreme Court decision that upheld old-growth forest protections for endangered spotted owls. Habitat destruction is the strongest driver of species extinction.

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