The Trump administration issued a memo on September 17, 2026, directing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop treating the foreseeable, unintentional killing of protected wildlife as an unlawful 'take' under the Endangered Species Act.
The Trump administration has issued an internal memo that reinterprets the Endangered Species Act to criminalize only intentional killing of animals, not collateral harm from development or other activities. The shift represents a major weakening of species protections as of September 18, 2026.