Who’s defending Endangered Species Act "Harm" Rule?
Wildlife refuge in Multiple, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA.
The defenders
Nobody has claimed this fight yet
No group in our directory carries Endangered Species Act "Harm" Rule in its work yet. That is not the same as nobody fighting: if you know the group that belongs here, tell us and our editors will look at it.
The situation
What’s happening to Endangered Species Act "Harm" Rule
For decades the Endangered Species Act has defined “harm” to a listed species to include destroying the habitat it depends on, the single most important tool for stopping drilling, logging, mining, and development from wiping out endangered wildlife on public lands. In July 2026 the Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA finalized a rule rescinding that definition, narrowing “harm” to direct killing or injury alone. Habitat destruction would no longer count as illegal take. The change strips protection from the places threatened species need to survive across every acre of federal land.
- 1975Interior defines "harm" to include habitat destruction
- 1995Supreme Court upholds the habitat definition in Sweet Home
- 2026FWS and NOAA publish final rule rescinding the "harm" definition
- 2026Rescission takes effect
Source: Federal Register · July 14, 2026
No public comment window is open on Endangered Species Act "Harm" Rule right now. A call script is ready on the Public Lands Action Network, and the groups above are how the fight gets funded and argued in the meantime.
Your move
How to stand for Endangered Species Act "Harm" Rule
Endangered Species Act "Harm" Rule has defenders. It needs more.
The work is theirs. The backing is yours.