Environmentalists skeptical about the Trump administration’s plans for the Fish and Wildlife Service are now turning to states in hopes of protecting potentially vulnerable species.
On Tuesday, citing what it called the Trump team’s “hostility to environmental protections,” the Center for Biological Diversity placed its hopes with the California Fish and Game Commission in a petition to list two species of desert songbirds.
The environmental group earlier this year filed petitions with the Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Bendire’s thrasher and LeConte’s thrasher under the federal Endangered Species Act. While a federal decision has not yet been rendered, the environmental organization maintains it can’t depend on a federal agency.
“State protections are likely to become even more important in the coming years under this administration,” Jeff Miller, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in an email Wednesday, adding that state protections will be key “given the Trump administration’s attempts to gut the Endangered Species Act and other federal environmental safeguards.”
