States Back Return to Common‐Sense Endangered Species Rules
Alabama is leading 20 States in urging federal Agencies to finalize proposed Endangered Species Act rules that restore long-standing habitat standards
A coalition of 20 States led by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has submitted formal comments supporting the Trump administration’s proposed revisions to Endangered Species Act (ESA) rules. The letter, filed Dec. 22 with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, urges the Agencies to finalize changes aimed at realigning federal regulations with the law’s text and reducing regulatory burdens.
The comment letter praises revisions that would bring back regulatory frameworks in place before 2024 that many States say burden landowners and complicate conservation efforts. The proposed rules would reinstate a two-step process for designating critical habitat and clarify how species are listed or delisted under the ESA.
“In 2016, the Obama administration abandoned a decades-old framework for designating critical habitat and gave sweeping new powers to unelected bureaucrats in direct violation of the Endangered Species Act,” Marshall wrote in the coalition letter. “We filed suit and the federal government agreed to reconsider the rules. President Trump’s reforms in 2019 restored balance and common sense. Then in 2024, the Biden administration repealed those sensible reforms and enacted additional unlawful regulations. We are glad that the Trump administration is once again reversing course.”
A key provision the coalition champions is the restoration of the long-standing method for evaluating critical habitat. Under the proposal, Agencies would first assess areas a species occupies and would only consider unoccupied areas if occupied lands are insufficient to ensure conservation. This two-step approach was standard for more than three decades before being changed in 2016.
The letter also backs clearer standards for listing and delisting species as threatened or endangered. It notes that regulatory burdens should ease as populations recover, reflecting statutory language that applies the same criteria to both listing and delisting decisions.
The coalition’s comments underscore support for what they call a return to “cooperative federalism,” emphasizing States’ roles in wildlife stewardship and local insight in conservation efforts. The Attorneys General commend the Agencies for proposing to “realign their regulations with the textual requirements of the Endangered Species Act.”
Joining Marshall in the coalition were Attorneys General from North Dakota, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The AG’s letter may be found HERE.
