As someone who works in…

As someone who works in environmental consulting and defers to the ESA every day, the changes that are proposed here will absolutely not adequately protect species at risk. In particular, I am concerned about what will happen to species that carry out life processes outside of the new definition of "habitat" (e.g. birds, turtles etc.), or plants, for which their habitat will basically be limited to their root zone. Further to this, removing the review process by MECP and replacing it with a registration process is a clear attempt to push developments through without adequate review or consultation with experts. Basically anything that is not contained in lands protected under other policy is now fair game for removal. SAR only have a limited amount of habitat remaining, and to remove what adequate protection they are still afforded may be a death knell for those most critically endangered. This is not acceptable, and should not be approved.