Changes to Endangered Species Act are an attack on the web of life

Statement by Kelly Herbinson, Executive Director of the Mojave Desert Land Trust, in response to the Department of Interior’s announcement that the Administration is revising regulations for the Endangered Species Act with four proposed rules impacting critical habitat, threatened species, and interagency cooperation.

“We are in an extinction emergency and the Endangered Species Act is one of the few laws helping reverse the current biodiversity decline. One quarter of plant and animal species are threatened with extinction globally, a stark manifestation of our eroded planetary systems. In the desert, the Mojave desert tortoise, our state reptile, has declined by a catastrophic 90% in just the last 75 years, despite having lived there for millions of years. The species was uplisted to endangered in 2024 due largely to loss of critical habitat—one of the key elements under attack in these proposed rules. The proposed rule, “Listing and critical habitat (50 CFR part 424)”, aims to stamp out the critical habitat designation in favor of energy extraction and short-term profit. Not only do imperiled species like the desert tortoise act as umbrella species supporting dozens of other plant and animal species, but they serve as canaries in the coalmine for ecosystem health—ecosystems that humans rely on for delivering clean air, water, and open spaces for us to recreate in, enjoy, and relax. The administration’s other proposed rules would facilitate energy extraction and development in sensitive ecosystems and wilderness that make up the essence of the California desert. Species do not exist in isolation. This new move by the federal administration will threaten humanity’s web of life.”