Environment and Public Lands

Endangered species protections

17 public statements from 2026 candidates · 6 related bills

§1The range of views

Why this matters: These protections can help species recover, and they can also limit building, logging, drilling, ranching and farming where protected species live.

Drafted by AI, then checked for neutral wording in a separate AI review. It describes the question and the main positions, not any candidate's view. Facts link to their sources.

How the Endangered Species Act protects plants and animals at risk of extinction, including their habitat, and when a species has recovered enough to lose protection.

  1. Strengthen protections and spend more on helping species recover
  2. Keep current protections
  3. Narrow protections and give states more control over listed species

These options describe policies, not people. The order is not a ranking.

§2What candidates have said

Why this matters: Statements candidates made publicly, summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Candidates who haven't spoken publicly on this issue aren't listed.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Strengthen protections and spend more on helping species recover (3)

  • Mike Levin CA-49
    His campaign website says he has worked to protect endangered species and their habitats and cosponsored the Recovering America's Wildlife Act.1
  • Matthew Montavon FL-17
    His campaign website says additional protections for threatened and endangered animals and natural resources are important environmental considerations.2
  • Debbie Dingell MI-6
    Her campaign website says she has introduced legislation to help protect endangered wildlife and is championing the Recovering America's Wildlife Act, which it says would provide $3.8 billion to states for proactive work to prevent animals from becoming endangered.3,4

Narrow protections and give states more control over listed species (2)

  • Lauren Boebert CO-4
    Her campaign website lists House passage of her Trust the Science Act to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list, and a measure signed into law that blocks listing the sage-grouse.5
  • Jack Bergman MI-1
    His campaign website says he has pushed for state wildlife officials to take over management of the gray wolf.6

Statements that don't match one option (12)

  • Treg Taylor AK Governor
    His campaign website says he overturned a federal critical habitat designation for ice seals, which it says preserved oil and gas development.7
  • Robb Tucker CA-3
    His campaign website says federal agencies should use rigorous science and consult local communities before making species or habitat decisions that affect local water supplies.8
  • Mike Thompson CA-4
    His campaign website lists among his accomplishments a tax law he wrote and passed that pays farmers who manage their land in ways that help conserve endangered species.9
  • Adam Gray CA-13
    His campaign website lists among his accomplishments introducing the Valley Water Protection Act, which would open the Endangered Species Act's exemption process when an agency action could affect national security or the regional economy, and says key parts of it were included in an Endangered Species Act amendments bill that passed the House Natural Resources Committee.10
  • Peter Sundin Soulé CA-16
    His campaign website says he would lower water costs for farmers by reforming federal species-protection law and increasing water storage capacity.11
  • Peter Coe Verbica CA-19
    His 25-point federal plan proposes reforming Endangered Species Act rules on water use to balance competing needs.12
  • Robert People FL-15
    His clean energy plan lists preserving Endangered Species protections and says he will support legislation to enshrine protections for biodiversity.13
  • Daniel Biss IL-9
    His campaign website says he will push back against efforts to weaken protections for public lands, waterways and endangered species.14
  • Ron Estes KS-4
    His campaign website says he wants to dismantle burdensome regulations such as the lesser prairie-chicken protections.15
  • Amy Klobuchar MN Governor
    Her campaign website says she supports wildlife management that meets the goals of the Endangered Species Act while keeping decisions about Minnesota's wildlife in Minnesota, including returning gray wolf management to the states once populations recover.16
  • Becky Kelly Stille NE-3
    Her campaign website says animal protection laws can help protect endangered species from extinction.17
  • Gregory G Cunningham NM-2
    His New Mexico Farmers First plan says management of Mexican wolves and gray wolves should be handed to the people most affected by them, and that ranchers should be compensated if a federal program brings predators onto their property.18

§3Related bills

Why this matters: Bills from 2023–2026 that bear on this issue, with how Congress handled them.