PORTLAND, Ore.— A study by the Center for Biological Diversity published today in the peer-reviewed journal PeerJ found that 2,204 species around the United States should be considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Despite so many species being at risk, Congress just passed a spending bill that cuts the already inadequate budget used to study whether imperiled wildlife will receive protection from $22 million to $14 million.

“Thousands of plants and animals across America are at risk of extinction while they wait for the federal government to do something, anything, to help them,” said study author Noah Greenwald, endangered species co-director at the Center. “This study underscores the cruelty and shortsightedness of the Trump administration’s slashing of funding and weakening of protections for endangered species.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is charged with protecting species, has on average protected just 32 species per year as threatened or endangered since the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973. At this rate, most of these 2,204 species will not receive consideration for protection in any meaningful time frame and some will likely go extinct as a consequence. The agency already faces a backlog of more than 400 species awaiting protection decisions.

There are currently 1,682 plants and animals protected under the law. The study indicates twice this many species may need protection to avoid extinction.

The study used data maintained by the organization NatureServe, focusing on the more than 10,000 U.S. species identified as critically imperiled or imperiled species.

Of these, the study found the 2,204 species faced threats to such a degree that they should be considered for protection as endangered or threatened.

On Friday, the Service found that seven of the species identified in the study warrant consideration for protection: the Olympic marmot, Alvord chub, Donner und Blitzen pebblesnail, Mount Pinos sooty grouse, wonder caddisfly, mysterious lantern firefly and stippled studfish.

Today’s study identified habitat destruction as a threat to 92% of the species needing consideration, followed by invasive species at 33% and climate change at 18%.

Species are the building blocks of ecosystems, which moderate flooding and the climate, cycle nutrients, clean the air and water, and provide people with food and medicine. Extinction destabilizes ecosystems, undermining America’s quality of life now and for future generations.

“That so many species need help highlights just how much we’re degrading the natural world at our own peril,” said Greenwald. “Humans need clean air and water and a stable climate just like the many species in decline. People are destroying the wild places where plants and animals live, and that habitat destruction remains the greatest threat to species’ survival both in the United States and around the world.”

Examples of Species Needing Consideration

Olympic marmots are adorable, large ground-dwelling squirrels that live almost entirely within Olympic National Park in Washington state. Their alpine and subalpine meadow ecosystems are changing rapidly because of warming temperatures, loss of snow, increased and prolonged wildfire seasons, and tree lines moving uphill into their meadows. They are also threatened by coyotes moving into their habitat because of the loss of wolves and habitat changes. The Center petitioned for their protection in May 2024.

Mount Pinos sooty grouse were historically found in high-elevation forests and meadows from the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains southward into the “sky island” mountains of Southern California, including the Tehachapi Mountains and Mount Pinos region of Ventura County. Today the species survives only in a dwindling portion of the Sierra Nevada. The birds have declined because of logging, livestock grazing within the meadows they need for brooding and raising their young, fire suppression resulting in elevated fire risk, and loss of high-elevation forest and meadow habitat due to climate change. Continued hunting of grouse within their remaining range poses an additional threat. The Center petitioned for their protection in June 2024.

Alvord chub were once considered widespread in the Alvord Basin, which stretches across southeastern Oregon and northwestern Nevada, but their populations have declined significantly. Threats to the fish include cattle grazing, water withdrawals, introduced species and climate change. The Center petitioned for their protection in August 2024.

Diana fritillary are southeastern butterflies ranging from North Carolina west and south to Oklahoma. They’ve lost habitat to agriculture and logging, but the main threat now is climate change, which is predicted to eliminate 90% of their habitat by 2050. They are identified as imperiled by NatureServe.

Kirtland’s snakes live in prairie wetlands in Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky and have suffered declines with the loss of their habitat. Other threats include disease, collection and climate change. They are under consideration for protection under the Endangered Species Act and considered imperiled by NatureServe.