The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has rescinded its blanket 4(d) rule under the Endangered Species Act, a change that the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) announced marks a shift toward incentive-driven species recovery. The policy change ends a one-size-fits-all regulatory approach that applied the same protections to threatened species as to endangered ones, regardless of recovery progress. PERC and RMEF had long argued this framework discouraged states and landowners from investing in habitat improvements because regulatory burdens remained constant even as species showed signs of recovery.
The two conservation groups filed a joint lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2024, claiming the blanket rule "impaired species recovery and ignored science." They followed up with a public comment in 2025 supporting the proposed rescission of the blanket rule. The organizations represent decades of conservation work—PERC has over 40 years of research in market-based conservation solutions, while RMEF is working to extend its habitat and public land access impact to 10 million acres by 2030.
"For too long, the blanket rule treated threatened species the same as endangered ones, dulling incentives for recovery," said Jonathan Wood, PERC vice president of law and policy. Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer, added that "smart policy should recognize improvement" and that "aligning regulations with a species' status is a commonsense way to motivate the very actions that lead to recovery." The report emphasizes that recovering species depends on stronger incentives for habitat restoration and stewardship from the states and landowners these imperiled species rely on.
The rescission allows for what the organizations call a "roadmap to recovery," where incremental conservation progress can be met with regulatory relief rather than static restrictions. Under the previous framework, there was little reason for local partners to invest in improvements if a species moving from endangered to threatened status brought no change in regulatory requirements. The new flexible approach is designed to reward conservation success and empower local stakeholders by recognizing their efforts with reduced burdens as species recover. This alignment between regulatory status and actual species health aims to accelerate recovery by creating tangible incentives for the habitat restoration and stewardship work that drives improvement in the first place.