Maryland Joins Suit Over Endangered Species Rollbacks

State of MD - Attorney General Anthony G. Brown is co-leading a coalition of 21 attorneys general in two lawsuits aimed at protecting endangered and threatened species.

The suits target the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Officials say new federal rules gut protections for wildlife under the Endangered Species Act.

The rules make it easier for private companies or individuals to modify or damage the habitats of listed species. They also leave threatened species without core protections they previously had.

"Maryland's endangered species and the habitats they depend on deserve real protection, not political rollbacks that put entire ecosystems at risk," said Attorney General Brown. "My Office will not stand by while the federal government unlawfully strips away the safeguards that Marylanders and our state's wildlife depend on."

The first lawsuit challenges the rollback of the long standing definition of "harm" under the Endangered Species Act. That definition used to include significant habitat modification or degradation, covering damage that could hurt breeding, feeding or shelter. Changing that definition makes it easier for habitats to be damaged, even when it threatens a species' survival.

The second lawsuit challenges two rule changes made by the Fish and Wildlife Service. One rule ends automatic protections for newly listed threatened species. The other creates a new process for naming "critical habitat" areas, which officials say could leave important areas without the protections Congress intended.

Attorney General Brown and the coalition argue habitat loss is the leading cause of species decline. They say the federal government's reasoning for cutting these protections goes against the purpose of the Endangered Species Act. The coalition also argues the changes violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

Maryland is home to at least 21 federally listed animals and seven plants. That list includes the dwarf wedgemussel, the Atlantic sturgeon, the bog turtle and the Puritan tiger beetle. Many of these species also live in neighboring states, so officials say strong federal protections matter beyond Maryland's borders.

Attorney General Brown co-led the lawsuit with the attorneys general of California and Washington. Attorneys general from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai?i, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin also joined the coalition.

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