This afternoon the Trump Administration announced new proposed rules impacting the enforcement of the Endangered Species Act. The Heritage Foundation's Senior Research Fellow in Agriculture Policy Daren Bakst had the following reaction to the proposed changes:

“It is welcome news to see a common-sense proposal to change the implementation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Protecting endangered species is an important cause, but we should not allow that goal to be confused with protecting a 45-year-old law that has failed in terms of conserving species. Until Congress makes the necessary reforms to the act, federal agencies must find ways – like the rule the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries announced today – to better implement the law. While it is not a complete fix, a better ESA regulatory scheme will help to protect endangered and threatened species, while respecting private property rights.”