North Carolinians Travel to Washington to Hand-Deliver Letter Urging Congress to Reject Attacks on the Endangered Species Act

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 22, 2026 — North Carolinians from across the state are in Washington this week to hand-deliver a letter to members of Congress urging them to oppose the ESA Amendments Act of 2025 (H.R. 1897), legislation they say would undermine protections for North Carolina’s wildlife, habitats, and the communities and businesses that depend on them.

Representing communities from the Outer Banks to the Crystal Coast, the Piedmont, and the mountains of Western North Carolina, the delegation’s message is clear: the Endangered Species Act is not only one of America’s most effective conservation laws, it is also vital to North Carolina’s economy, outdoor heritage, and quality of life. The letter highlights the direct connection between wildlife protection and the state’s coastal tourism industry, fisheries, outdoor recreation economy, and natural resources.

“North Carolina’s wildlife is part of who we are,” said Dalton George, National Grassroots Organizer for the Endangered Species Coalition. “From hellbenders in our riverbeds and piping plovers on our beaches to monarch butterflies crossing our landscapes, threatened and endangered species help define the places North Carolinians love. North Carolinians are coming to Capitol Hill to remind lawmakers that the Endangered Species Act works — and that weakening it would put both wildlife and communities at risk.”

North Carolina is home to and part of the range of species that depend on strong federal protections, including piping plovers along the Atlantic Coast and sea turtles that rely on healthy beaches and ocean habitat. ESC materials note that piping plovers remain far from fully recovered and serve as an indicator species for the health of shoreline habitats, while loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles help keep marine ecosystems in balance and support coastal economies tied to healthy beaches and oceans.

The letter also points to the law’s record of success. For more than 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has prevented the extinction of 99% of listed species and helped drive recovery efforts for wildlife across the country. Piping plovers are one example of that progress: when all three U.S. populations were listed in 1985, there were fewer than 8,000 birds left and only 476 breeding pairs in the Atlantic Coast population. By 2019, that coastal population had risen to 1,818 pairs, demonstrating what strong federal protections and community stewardship can achieve.

The North Carolinians’ letter warns that H.R. 1897 would weaken recovery efforts by shrinking critical habitat protections, limiting public accountability, preventing balanced mitigation for harm to listed species, and shifting too much responsibility onto under-resourced state agencies. The delegation argues that species recovery requires strong national standards and science-based decision-making, not a patchwork of weaker protections. ESC’s report on the bill warns that the proposed amendments would weaken scientific standards, turn reviews into a “rubber stamp,” and cripple the ESA’s ability to protect species.

“For over 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has helped bring species back from the brink and protected the natural systems all life depends on,” said Susan Holmes, Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition. “Congress should be strengthening this law, not dismantling it. North Carolinians know that protecting wildlife also protects healthy coasts, clean water, local economies, and our future.”

The Endangered Species Coalition and North Carolina signers are urging members of Congress to reject H.R. 1897 and uphold the Endangered Species Act’s science-based framework.

The full letter and list of signatories is available here.