A new federal rule that stands to dramatically weaken Endangered Species Act protections is drawing serious concern from conservation groups in Central Florida and beyond.
The rule announced Friday is all about one key word: “harm.”
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For decades, federal agencies overseeing the ESA have understood “harm” to include the destruction and degradation of habitat for plant and animal species protected by the law. But the new federal rule rescinds that definition.
Effectively, that means moving forward, the ESA will only prohibit the killing or harming of animals or plants specifically. The new rule eliminates protection against the destruction of those species’ habitat, said Endangered Species Coalition National Policy Director Jewel Tomasula.
In Florida, home to the vast majority of the nation’s sea turtle nesting activity, the new rule will remove regulatory barriers for industry projects posing risks to those turtle nests.
“[The] entity might not be specifically killing the sea turtles or their eggs,” Tomasula said. “But they're taking away what is known as that crucial nesting habitat, or that generational nesting habitat on the beach for a sea turtle. That's harming them. And so that's what that definition captured that is now being disregarded.”
Environmental groups have already challenged the new rule in a lawsuit filed this week.
Clawing back 'federal overreach'
The new rule takes effect Sept. 14. According to the U.S. Departments of Commerce and the Interior, it is a common-sense change that “will end years of federal overreach,” and better protect private property rights.
Environmental advocates argue habitat protection doesn’t weaken the economy – it actually fuels it. Stacey Gallagher is policy coordinator for the Sea Turtle Conservancy, a Gainesville-based nonprofit that advocates for the protection of sea turtles across Florida and the Caribbean.
“I think Florida is a perfect example of how our economy is our environment,” Gallagher said. “If we do not have a safe, healthy, thriving environment, we have no economy.”
Sea turtles are just one example: people love to see and learn about them, whether in the water or nesting on Florida beaches. Tourists and residents alike will pay for nighttime turtle walks on the beach, led by certain, permitted groups.
When protections for plant and animal species also safeguard the habitat those species need to survive, it allows people and ecotourism industries to enjoy that habitat, too, Gallagher said.
“People do not come to Florida for the built environment. They come to Florida to be on the water, to be at our beaches, at our springs, hiking. They want to be outside.”
'The long, slow process' of species recovery
Sea turtles face lots of threats like oil spills, disorientation caused by artificial lighting and habitat loss driven by factors like sea level rise and the construction of seawalls and other “hard armoring” techniques to stabilize shorelines. (By Jan. 1, a new law directs Florida to develop standards for alternative, nature-based coastal resiliency strategies, like living shorelines.)
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Over time, though, the 53-year-old Endangered Species Act has helped sea turtle populations weather and bounce back from some of those threats. It’s a success story playing out on a global scale, Gallagher said.
Last year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature downlisted green sea turtles to a “species of least concern,” indicating that populations are rebounding to healthier levels.
“A lot of that was because of the incredible nesting numbers that we're seeing in the United States,” thanks to the ESA’s protections, Gallagher said.
But the progress didn’t happen overnight. Species recovery is a “long, slow process,” Gallagher said — something especially true for “long-lived” species like sea turtles, which mature slowly.
In the long-term, though, environmental protections like the ESA’s can make a real, positive difference: one finally playing out in Florida, Gallagher said. She cited data shared Wednesday by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
So far this year, loggerhead turtles are having “an outstanding season,” with more than 94,000 nests documented statewide, according to the agency’s social media post. That number puts the species on track to break records this year.
Leatherback turtles could also break their nesting season record in Florida, with more than 2,000 nests tracked so far this year.
But more turtles also means more turtles facing pronounced threats.
“Weakening protections for sea turtles right now, Gallagher said, “is the last thing that we should be doing.”
One of several proposals
The new rule rescinding federal agencies’ previous definition of “harm” isn’t the only proposal to change the ESA.
For example, proposed legislation to overhaul the law remains in limbo, after being pulled from the House floor earlier this year. The proposal was yanked from the schedule following widespread outcry from members of the public and lawmakers, including some Republican lawmakers.
Changing the ESA law itself would be more difficult — and permanent — than the pending rule change.
“This is a relatively quicker way. It's also a relatively less permanent way,” Tomasula said.
Tomasula, Gallagher and other conservation advocates encourage anyone concerned about the future of the ESA to contact their elected representatives.
