Recently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its decision to seek federal protection for several giraffe species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).^[1] The proposal would add the West African, Kordofan and Nubian giraffes to the endangered list.^[2] These populations have declined 77% since 1985 according to the agency.^[3] Additionally, the Reticulated and Masai giraffes would qualify as threatened and would be given tailored protections through a 4(d) rule.^[4] If finalized, the rule would target the illegal hunting and trade of giraffes within the U.S.^[5] In 2022 alone, thousands of giraffe parts including trophy skins, bone carvings, and leather commodities entered the country.^[6] The rule would restrict this practice by requiring permits to import giraffe parts and would increase funding for giraffe conservation efforts.^[7] The proposed rule is published in the Federal Register and will be open for public comment for 90 days before being finalized.[8]

While this is an encouraging step for conservation efforts, it also may demonstrate the shortcomings of the 1973 Endangered Species Act as the go-to for protecting our wildlife in an increasingly urgent climate crisis. One of the biggest issues with this current approach is the slow-moving process of adding a species to the list. The proposed giraffe addition, for example, is the result of 2017 petitions followed by a 2018 lawsuit on the part of advocacy groups; this seven-year gap in action between petition and proposal is an alarmingly slow pace for an issue as pressing as species extinction.^[9] Often, species are added too late and are essentially doomed before the protective measures are triggered. In 2023, twenty-one species were removed from the ESA’s list due to extinction.^[10] The agency also faces an extreme lack of funding, which both slows the process of adding species and makes it difficult to implement adequate protections, promote conservation, or generate awareness.^[11]

The ESA works significantly better when it has the backing of the President’s Administration, but its shortcomings become a glaring issue when federal officials are unsupportive. The Trump administration has historically been dismissive of climate change and hostile towards environmental conservation, instead favoring big polluting industries.^[12] During its first term, the administration launched an attack on the ESA, making it easier to remove a species from the endangered list and weakening protections for the “threatened” category.^[13] Critically, the administration also inserted economic factors into the consideration of which species should be listed and removed long term climate change impacts from the analysis.^[14] Furthermore, the administration narrowed the definition of “habitat” under the Act to areas that currently support the species, which excludes habitat areas that may become important to endangered species as they shift in response to climate change.^[15]

While the Biden Administration reversed some of these rules, this too took almost four years,^[16] and we are now faced with Trump’s imminent return to the White House. The giraffe rule will likely survive, as it does not limit industrial activity in the United States and giraffes are a beloved species that can likely transcend the party divide.^[17] But many other species will not be so lucky, and Trump is likely to sacrifice protected lands for mining and drilling, placing our country’s biodiversity in peril.

When the ESA’s protections are so easily gutted by a hostile administration and climate change is increasingly dire, the statute would likely benefit from additions that codify the process of adding and removing species and specify the factors which can be considered, excluding economic burden and allowing long term climate change impacts in this analysis. But even so, the Service needs significant funding increases to process species applications and successfully implement conservation programs.

Perhaps it is time to consider alternative approaches in addition to the ESA, such as new and updated legislation aimed at species protection. One such effort is the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), which would provide states and territories up to 1.4 billion dollars each year to implement federally-approved Wildlife Action Plans.^[18] It would also invest up to 98 million dollars annually in wildlife conservation efforts spearheaded by Tribal Nations.^[19] This collaborative approach with Indigenous tribes is a promising outlook which, coupled with the necessary resources, could reinvigorate species protection efforts. The bill passed the House but failed in the Senate, so it will be reintroduced in the 118th Congress.^[20] In a climate crisis, innovative approaches to species protection are crucial for the survival of the most vulnerable creatures and habitats.

 

 

^[1] Press Release, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Endangered Species Act Protections for Giraffes (Nov. 20, 2024), https://perma.cc/A4EK-CHNY.

[2] Id

^[3] Id.

^[4] Id.

[5] Id.

^[6] Catrin Einhorn, Giraffes, in Steep Decline, Now Need Protection, U.S. Officials Say, N.Y. Times (Nov. 20, 2024), https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/climate/giraffes-threatened-endangered.html.

^[7] Id.

[8] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, supra note 1.

^[9] Oliver Milman & Richard Luscombe, U.S. Moves to List Giraffes under Endangered Species Act for First Time, The Guardian (Nov. 21, 2024), https://perma.cc/5MAB-AGX4.

^[10]  Press Release, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 21 Species Delisted from the Endangered Species Act due to Extinction (Oct. 16, 2023), https://perma.cc/4ZR6-UV4Q.

^[11] Press Release, Center for Biological Diversity, Congress Urged to Spend $857 Million to Fully Fund Endangered Species Protection (April 17, 2024), https://perma.cc/CHR6-SSUE;  Most funding for endangered species only benefits a few creatures. Thousands of others are left in limbo, CBS News (Dec. 30, 2023), https://perma.cc/V5YE-5JJV.

^[12] Maggie Caldwell, Trump Administration Finalizes Another Rule To Gut Endangered Species Act, EarthJustice (Dec. 17, 2020),  https://perma.cc/2DY9-5DSM.

^[13] Ellen Ruppel Shell, A second Trump term would be devastating for wildlife, The Boston Globe (Oct. 30, 2024), https://perma.cc/7G78-2ALK.

^[14] Id.

^[15] Trump administration finalizes rule narrowing habitat protected by Endangered Species Act, Southern Environmental Law Center (Dec. 30, 2020), https://www.southernenvironment.org/news/trump-administration-finalizes-rule-narrowing-habitat-protected-by-endangered-species-act/.

^[16] Biden administration restores threatened species protections dropped by Trump, NPR (March 28, 2024),  https://perma.cc/4P2U-F7C7.

^[17] Oliver Milman & Richard Luscombe, supra note 6.

^[18] Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, National Wildlife Federation, https://perma.cc/9XY6-EYED; How the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act Benefits Wildlife and People, The Nature Conservancy, https://perma.cc/9CCN-BGLH.

^[19] Id.

^[20] Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2023, S. 1149, 118th Cong. (2023-2024).