The Trump administration has proposed changing the interpretation of the Endangered Species Act to allow developers to alter the habitats of endangered species such as panthers, sea turtles, and owls.

The Endangered Species Act defines “take” as “to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.” Last week, agencies at the Departments of Interior and Commerce proposed rule changes that could have far reaching consequences — essentially upending longstanding and court-upheld interpretations of the ESA and imperiling protected species.

The Trump administration is reinterpreting a key word in the Endangered Species Act that could have big consequences for the habitats of species at risk.