Attorney General Josh Kaul joins lawsuit challenging rollback of Endangered Species Act regulations

Attorney General Josh Kaul is joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general and the City of New York in a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s rollback of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The challenge argues that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service's decisions to finalize three rules that undermine the key requirements and purpose of the Endangered Species Act are unlawful.

For over 45 years, the Endangered Species Act has protected thousands of iconic and threatened species, including the bald eagle and whooping crane. Enacted under the Nixon Administration in 1973, the ESA is intended “to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost.”

The Trump Administration’s rules would dramatically weaken current protections and reduce federal Endangered Species Act enforcement and consultation, putting these endangered species and their habitats at risk of extinction.

In Wisconsin, there are more than 20 species listed as endangered or threatened under the Act.