For more than 50 years, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has protected wildlife in the United States from extinction. Now, as never before, it’s under siege. Bills introduced in Congress, executive orders from the president, and agency heads hostile toward conservation are all trying to weaken the law in the name of encouraging oil and gas production, protecting ranchers, and allowing states to manage wildlife through trophy hunting. The species that uphold ecosystems in the United States, define its landscape and delight the majority of its citizens are at risk.
Many of the 1,700 species listed as endangered and threatened could be lost in the coming generation—an evolutionary blink of the eye. They include songbirds called Rufa red knots who for 10,000 years have migrated from the Arctic to South America and feed on the eggs of horseshoe crabs, a species that emerged 445 million years ago; gray wolves, who moved into North America 400,000 years ago; grizzly bears, who traveled into the lower 48 states 13,000 years ago when the last of the glacial ice sheets melted; and hundreds of others. “Endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful,” in the words of Darwin.
Current threats to the Endangered Species Act
The most dangerous attacks are coming from Congress, say Humane World for Animals advocates. Three bills introduced this year, if passed, would gut the Endangered Species Act, taking away protections for gray wolves and grizzlies and other animals.
Like the gray wolf above, these grizzly bears are protected under the ESA. (Photo by Amy Gerber/Cub Creek Photography)
“[ESA opponents] recognize these species can’t be delisted through a normal process, and they have to end run around science,” says Nicholas Arrivo, a Humane World attorney who has successfully argued that gray wolves and grizzlies need continued protection.
The ESA Amendments Act of 2025 (H.R. 1897) would make it easier to delist and harder to list species, and erase protections for habitat on which species depend.
The Grizzly Bear State Management Act (H.R. 281, S. 316) would delist grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The Pet and Livestock Protection Act (H.R. 845, S.1306) would delist gray wolves nationwide. Both would block courts from undoing these changes.
Humpback whales are one of the hundreds of animals protected by the ESA and currently under threat. (Photo by David Olsen/Alamy Stock photo)
For decades, advocates from Humane World for Animals and other environmental and welfare groups have sued to preserve ESA protections—winning again and again in the courts with arguments based on research by wildlife biologists. The bills in Congress would decide the fate of species based on politics, say Humane World advocates.
Meanwhile, President Trump has declared an energy emergency and proposed allowing oil and gas drilling in habitat critical to the survival of animals listed under the ESA. The new secretary of the Department of Interior, Doug Burgum, and the new director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Brian Nesvik, have both pledged to support Trump’s push to develop fossil fuels, even if that means rolling back ESA protections.
In August, a federal judge appointed by Trump delisted the lesser prairie chicken, removing ESA protections that had kept oil companies from drilling, after the state of Texas and the Permian Basin Petroleum Association sued.
Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed. It is a many-faceted treasure, of value to scholars, scientists, and nature lovers alike, and it forms a vital part of the heritage we all share as Americans.
President Richard Nixon, signed the ESA into law in 1973
How to protect the Endangered Species Act
“This is the scariest time for the Endangered Species Act we have ever seen,” says Gillian Lyons, director of regulatory affairs at the Humane World Action Fund. “My hope is really the American people who care about wildlife. They have the power to let lawmakers know just how important this issue is to them—and the potential to change the narrative to something positive.”
The majority of Americans—a consistent 84% during the past three decades—support the ESA. Conservation has historically been a bipartisan issue, championed by both Democrats and Republicans. In fact, it was President Richard Nixon who signed the ESA into law in 1973.
To save the ESA and the species it protects, Americans can call their members of Congress, submit comments when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes rule changes to implement the law, and work to elect ESA supporters to Congress in 2026.
“If species such as wolves lose their ESA protection at the federal level, the struggle to save them must shift to the state level,” says Jill Fritz, Humane World senior managing director of wildlife protection.
“If they’re delisted, that’s not the end of things. It then becomes incumbent on the people in the wolf states to stand up and fight for wolves.”
Read more about the fight to protect and save the Endangered Species Act in the winter issue of All Animals, out this December.
Imagebroker/Alamy Stock photo
Preserve ESA protections for wolves and grizzly bears!
As gray wolves and grizzly bears continue to face ongoing threats to their survival, Congress is trying to axe science-backed Endangered Species Act protections that are critical to their recovery. And we need your help to fight back!
