Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall led a 20-state coalition in filing comments backing the Trump Administration’s proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act.

The letter, submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, praised reforms aimed at reducing regulatory burdens, aligning incentives for landowners and ensuring federal rules match the language of the Act per a news release.

“In 2016, the Obama administration abandoned a decades-old framework for designating critical habitat and gave sweeping new powers to unelected bureaucrats in direct violation of the Endangered Species Act,” Marshall said in the release form his office. “We filed suit and the federal government agreed to reconsider the rules. President Trump’s reforms in 2019 restored balance and common sense. Then in 2024, the Biden administration repealed those sensible reforms and enacted additional unlawful regulations. We are glad that the Trump administration is once again reversing course.”

Among the proposals supported by the coalition is a two-step process for designating critical habitat. The rule would first evaluate areas occupied by a species then consider unoccupied areas only if the occupied habitat is insufficient to ensure species conservation. That framework, in place for more than 30 years before being eliminated in 2016, is designed to meet the statutory requirement that unoccupied areas be “essential for the conservation of the species.” The coalition also highlighted that the same standard should apply when listing or delisting species, reducing regulatory requirements as populations recover.

The letter praised what it described as a return to “cooperative federalism” that respects the expertise and responsibilities of states and local partners. It also commended the Services for seeking to realign regulations with the text of the Endangered Species Act.

According to the release, the coalition was led by Marshall and the North Dakota attorney general and included the attorneys general of Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. Visit www.alabamaag.gov to read the coalition's letter.