Which Philadelphia-area species could be impacted by the proposed weakening of the Endangered Species Act?

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Red knots, piping plovers, bog turtles and fireflies are among several vulnerable species in the Philadelphia region facing threats of development, pollution and climate change.

Conservationists have worked hard to track populations of these creatures while protecting and restoring their habitats along streams and wetlands, and across the coast.

But these threatened species are now at risk of losing federal protections as the Trump administration has proposed weakening parts of the Endangered Species Act.

The proposed changes include allowing the government to consider potential economic impacts before deciding whether to list a species as endangered or before protecting their habitats from activities like oil drilling and logging.

“This introduction of cost-benefit analysis and economics into an equation that is supposed to be based solely on the best available science is going to doom hundreds of species to extinction,” said Will Harlan, southeast director and senior scientist for the Center for Biological Diversity.

The Endangered Species Act aims to prevent extinction and protect habitats by restricting development, oil drilling, logging and mining authorized by federal agencies. Since its passage in 1973, the act has helped dozens of species bounce back from the brink of extinction, including populations of the bald eagle, which have grown along the Delaware Bay.

The latest proposal from the Trump administration would also reduce protections for species listed as threatened, a designation below endangered, such as the bog turtle and the red knot bird.

The proposal, announced Nov. 19, mirrors changes implemented during President Donald Trump’s first term that were later reversed by the Biden administration. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said the proposal would strengthen American energy independence, while reducing regulatory overreach.

However, environmentalists say the move could harm animal and plant life, as well as several threatened species in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey.

“I think what will happen is a gradual concentration of wildlife into fewer and smaller protected areas,” said Larry Niles, a biologist formerly with New Jersey’s Division of Fish and Wildlife. “It’ll be increasingly harder for endangered and threatened species to exist outside of public land.”

The proposed changes could impact species that are not currently in danger of extinction, but may become endangered in the future.

Currently, threatened species receive the same protections as those listed as endangered. The Trump administration’s proposal would dismantle protections for threatened species, however.

“Threatened species aren’t yet in the emergency room, but are about to be if they don’t have urgent action,” Harlan said. “[The proposal] is just going to put more patients in the ER, more critically wounded species on the brink of extinction.”

Several species in the Philadelphia region are currently listed as threatened, including reptiles like the bog turtle. Populations of the 4-inch creature have dwindled because of habitat loss caused by pollution and development, as well as poaching.

Shorebirds like piping plovers and red knots are also listed as threatened species. Their habitats and nesting areas are affected by development, as well as severe storms caused by climate change. Under the Trump administration’s proposal, the birds also could not be protected based on the future threat of climate change.

The Bethany Beach firefly in Delaware, which has been proposed to be listed as a threatened species, could also be impacted, scientists say. The rare insects, notable for their bright green double flash, live among freshwater depressions along the dunes of the Atlantic coast. Their habitats too have been harmed by development, as well as the effects of climate change, such as sea level rise.

One of the most prominent species in the Philadelphia region that could be impacted by the proposal is the eastern hellbender, a giant salamander and Pennsylvania’s state amphibian which has been proposed to be listed as endangered. The aquatic salamander is on the brink of extinction and threatened by poor water quality and logging activities.

The proposed changes would allow the federal government to weigh the economic impacts of designating critical habitats. That means habitats may not be protected if the federal government places a higher value on logging, construction and oil drilling.

“This is just utterly inconsistent with what is required to protect species that are in any state of concern,” said Alex Ireland, president and CEO of New Jersey Audubon. “The species that we care about protecting, they’re not in zoos, they rely upon habitat. The most effective way to manage and to protect species that are threatened or endangered is to protect the habitat that they rely upon.”

The proposal would exclude areas that species don’t currently occupy from Endangered Species Act protections, which could particularly impact insects like the Bethany Beach firefly.

“Insect populations vary quite a bit from year to year, and if we don’t allow the protection of unoccupied historic habitat, when their populations do expand, that could be a big problem for the species,” said Sarina Jepsen, endangered species program director at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

David Mizrahi, vice president of research and monitoring at New Jersey Audubon, said he’s concerned the changes could make it more difficult to regulate beach disturbance. Several habitat areas for piping plovers and red knots in New Jersey and Delaware are currently protected from human activity that could disturb feeding and breeding.

Red knots travel 9,000 miles each year from South America to the Arctic, making a stop at the Delaware Bay to rest and refuel on the crab’s eggs. But the shorebirds have declined significantly over the years because their food supply has dwindled.

Horseshoe crabs historically have been overharvested and used as bait, which has led to a male-only harvest in an effort to restore red knot populations. Mizrahi said the red knot’s listing under the Endangered Species Act has been crucial in the fight against horseshoe crab overharvesting.

“If red knots weren’t listed, we wouldn’t really have any leverage at all in terms of trying to protect horseshoe crabs and ensure that there are enough horseshoe crab eggs on Delaware Bay beaches when shorebirds arrive in the spring,” he said.

The public is able to comment on the proposals over a 30-day period, but finalizing the rules could take up to two years.