Our ability to protect sensitive species and habitats is being greatly diminished and supressed. If you care about nature, please provide public comment via national commenting processes (e.g., contact your representatives and senators, and/or provide public comment) to oppose these actions:
Mid-February 2025: National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) guidance removed the need for cumulative effects that are related to projects with a federal nexus.
March 1, 2025: Immediate expansion of American timber production: Requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and other agencies to suspend, revise, or rescind all existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, settlements, consent orders, and other agency actions that “impose an undue burden” on timber production.
April 9, 2025: Executive Order directs that agencies (a.k.a. the heads of these agencies appointed by the President) will apply a sunset (expiration date) to the following:
-Migratory Bird Treaty Act
-Endangered Species Act
-Marine Mammal Protection Act
-Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act
-Anadromous Fish Conservation Act
-Federal Land Policy and Management Act
-Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation & Management Act (manages marine fisheries)
-Coastal barrier resource Act (discourages federally funded development in flood zones)
-Outer Continental Shelf Act (manages off-shore oil, gas, and wind resource use)
April 11, 2025: The Migratory Treaty Bird Act (the act that protects Wisdom and hundreds of other birds, removed the need to avoid accidental or incidental taking of migratory birds (Memorandum 37085).
April 17, 2025: The USFWS and National Marine Fisheries Service is seeking comments on the proposed removal of the word “Harm” from the Endangered Species Act, gutting much of the “teeth” in the ESA.
Melissa Price
Example response to make your voice heard and counted as follows:
“The following actions taken in 2025 are deeply troubling and threaten decades of bipartisan progress in stewardship of some of our most basic humans values that is intricately connected to the health and well-being of the American people.
In mid-February, the removal of NEPA guidance requiring consideration of cumulative effects for projects with a federal nexus undermines the very purpose of the National Environmental Policy Act. Ignoring cumulative impacts will lead to piecemeal degradation of our environment, with consequences that are often irreversible.
On March 1, the immediate expansion of American timber production—by requiring agencies like the USFWS to suspend or rescind any regulation deemed an “undue burden” on timber—prioritizes short-term industry gains over the long-term health of our forests, watersheds, and the species that depend on them.
The April 9 Executive Order mandating sunset clauses for foundational conservation laws—including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, Anadromous Fish Conservation Act, Federal Land Policy and Management Act, Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation & Management Act, Coastal Barrier Resource Act, and Outer Continental Shelf Act—poses an existential threat to the very framework that has protected our nation’s biodiversity and natural heritage for generations.
On April 11, the removal of the requirement to avoid accidental or incidental take of migratory birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (Memorandum 37085) opens the door to widespread, unintentional harm to bird populations already facing steep declines.
The April 17 proposal by the USFWS and National Marine Fisheries Service to remove the word “Harm” from the Endangered Species Act would gut the law’s effectiveness, making it nearly impossible to prevent actions that injure or kill protected species or destroy their habitats.
Additionally, I am alarmed by the recent executive order to open the sea floor to mining. This action threatens fragile and little-understood marine ecosystems, risks irreversible damage to biodiversity, and could have far-reaching consequences for ocean health and climate resilience.
Equally concerning is the order to allow commercial fishing in national marine monuments in the Pacific Ocean. These protected areas were established to conserve extraordinary marine habitats, opening them to commercial exploitation undermines years of progress caring for the ocean's gifts through sustainable fisheries management.
These actions are not only out of step with the values of the American people, who overwhelmingly support strong public lands and waters protections, but they also jeopardize our the resilience of our communities, and the future of our children and grandchildren, personal health and well-being. You can Google hundreds of scientific sources to understand how coral reefs produce 50% of the world's oxygen while covering only .0025% of the ocean floor. Two million different types of animals thrive within or around coral reefs. Along with containing oxygen, coral reefs absorb nearly one-third of the carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels.
I urge you to stand up and uphold our nation’s environmental laws, and oppose all efforts to weaken or expire these critical protections. Please use your voice and your vote to defend the laws and policies that have made the United States a global leader in helping ecosystems thrive.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.”
Example response to make your voice heard and counted as follows: Feel free to use all or part of this letter. This was written in part by a Midway constituent to express strong opposition to the recent and ongoing efforts to roll back critical conservation protections that safeguard our nation’s wildlife, habitat, people and our federal public lands and waters.