March 30, 2024 — The Biden administration has restored so-called blanket rule protections for threatened species after the Trump administration in 2019 abolished those rules under the Endangered Species Act.
The blanket rule provides newly listed threatened species that are at risk of becoming endangered in the foreseeable future with the same broad protections as endangered species that are at risk of becoming extinct. The rule avoids the need for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to formulate specific protections for each species that it lists as threatened.
“As species face new and daunting challenges, including climate change, degraded and fragmented habitat, invasive species, and wildlife disease, the Endangered Species Act is more important than ever to conserve and recover imperiled species,” Martha Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said in a statement. “These revisions underscore our commitment to using all of the tools available to help halt declines and stabilize populations of the species most at-risk.”