Date: 4/18/25 5:56 pm From: Gordon Andersson <gpandersson...> Subject: [mou-net] federal admin proposed rule to change "take" in Endangered Species Act ---NPR & MPR
Under federal ESA, habitats of protected plants and animals have been protected with the listed species themselves. If adopted and implemented, a limited interpretation of "take" would remove the habitat protection. The US ESA would then compare to the MN DNR rules regarding MN-listed species. In MN, habitats of all federally-listed Endangered & Threatened species are protected. For species listed only in MN (and not federally), habitats are protected for plants and year-round-resident animals. But for state-only listed species, habitat can be destroyed when the listed species is not present. For the migratory bird majority in Minnesota, this is the entire non-breeding season.
