FWS Memo Rewrites Endangered Species Act, Limiting Protections to Intentional Harm

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has issued an internal memo that redefines the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to protect species only from actions that intentionally target them. Distributed last week to all field offices, the memo instructs staff to ignore private interests that cause preventable deaths of vulnerable animals. FWS Director Brian Nesvik wrote in a September 14 memo that accidental harm—such as a vessel striking a whale or a tree felled for timber—does not constitute a ‘take’ unless the action is aimed at killing or capturing the animal. Conservation groups say the change blindsides the ESA’s original purpose of preventing incidental harm. The memo’s reach across the agency’s workforce means enforcement of the law will shift immediately, potentially allowing more accidental deaths of endangered species.