The federal government has quietly redefined a single word – and in doing so has stripped legal protection from the forests, wetlands and deserts that endangered wildlife depend on to survive. The Interior and Commerce departments finalised a rule on Friday, 10 July 2026, narrowing the definition of 'harm' under the Endangered Species Act. Destroying an animal's habitat no longer counts as harming it.
The change was published in the Federal Register on 14 July and is set to take effect on 14 September. It opens vast tracts of previously protected land to logging, mining and oil and gas drilling. Environmental groups have already sued to block it, arguing the rewrite violates fifty years of legal precedent, including rulings from the US Supreme Court.
