How Trump’s Endangered Species Act revisions could affect Southwest Georgia

ALBANY — Some of Southwest Georgia’s most important wildlife is almost never seen.

Freshwater mussels spend their lives buried beneath the Flint River. Georgia blind salamanders inhabit the dark waters of the Upper Floridan Aquifer beneath the Dougherty Plain. Dougherty Plain cave crayfish live in subterranean waterways, while wood storks, eastern indigo snakes and other protected species depend on wetlands, forests and river corridors that many residents pass every day without realizing the ecological significance beneath their feet.

Their obscurity is precisely what has the potential to place them at the center of one of the nation’s most consequential conservation debates.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration finalized a rule rescinding the long-standing regulatory definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act, removing language that had interpreted the law to include significant habitat modification or degradation that actually kills or injures protected wildlife.

The Department of the Interior said the change restores the law to the original meaning of the statute by focusing on the direct “take” of endangered species rather than habitat modification itself.

But local conservation experts say the practical effects may prove far more complicated than simply reducing environmental regulations.

Ben Scott and Bethany Suggs of the Flint RiverQuarium said the revised framework could actually introduce greater uncertainty for projects in Southwest Georgia by shifting more questions to species-by-species determinations rather than relying on broader habitat protections. In their view, that ambiguity has the potential to increase—not eliminate—the environmental reviews, public debate and legal challenges surrounding projects such as Albany’s long-delayed replacement of the Oglethorpe Boulevard Bridge over the Flint River.

“You’re still going to have the voices that are going to be, ‘No, you can’t do this,'” Scott said, noting that organizations such as Flint Riverkeeper will continue scrutinizing projects affecting rivers and wetlands regardless of changes in federal policy. Clean water remains essential for species such as freshwater mussels, which filter enormous volumes of water and are among the river’s most sensitive indicators of ecological health.

For Suggs, one amphibian illustrates why habitat protection cannot always be separated from species protection.

Among the species conservationists worry about most is the striped newt, one of the rarest amphibians in North America. Endemic to the longleaf pine ecosystems of southern Georgia and northern Florida, the species has declined to just three known wild breeding populations. Suggs said the striped newt’s survival depends on a delicate combination of seasonal wetlands, intact upland habitat and naturally occurring fire cycles that maintain the open forests where it lives.

“They rely both on wetlands and areas that have natural wildfires,” Suggs explained. “They’re very, very specific.”

The amphibian breeds in isolated wetlands that periodically dry, helping reduce predators, before spending most of its adult life underground in surrounding upland habitat. Because it requires multiple interconnected habitats to complete its life cycle, even subtle changes to wetlands, groundwater or the surrounding landscape can have lasting consequences for the species’ recovery.

Suggs pointed to the alligator snapping turtle as another example. While populations in Georgia have shown greater stability than in some neighboring states, she said threatened species often receive protections precisely because scientists are trying to prevent them from becoming endangered. That preventative approach, she said, becomes more difficult when habitat protections become less certain.

The discussion carries particular significance for Southwest Georgia.

The Flint River basin is widely recognized by aquatic biologists as one of the Southeast’s freshwater biodiversity hotspots.

Research published in Freshwater Science in 2025 by scientists from Albany State University, the Flint RiverQuarium, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Georgia found that the Flint River contains approximately 23% of Georgia’s freshwater mussel diversity, including nine mussel species protected under state or federal law.

Using DNA barcoding, researchers also documented 28 mussel-host fish relationships within the basin, including 27 previously unknown to science, underscoring how tightly connected the river’s ecology truly is.

Freshwater mussels cannot complete their life cycle without specific host fish. Their microscopic larvae must temporarily attach to those fish before settling into the riverbed. If fish populations decline or river conditions change because of altered water quality, sedimentation or stream flow, mussel reproduction can fail even when adult mussels remain alive.

Scientists therefore consider mussels among North America’s most sensitive indicators of river health.

Albany residents have already seen how endangered species protections can shape major infrastructure projects.

Crews replacing the Oglethorpe Boulevard Bridge over the Flint River encountered significant delays as biologists conducted extensive environmental surveys and relocated 2,384 freshwater mussels from the construction area, including 238 protected individuals. The work required months of planning and review, with construction schedules adjusted to avoid disrupting critical periods in the mussels’ life cycle.

Freshwater mussels have one of the most complex reproductive strategies in the animal kingdom. Instead of developing entirely on the riverbed, females release microscopic larvae, known as glochidia, that must temporarily attach to the gills or fins of specific host fish species. After several weeks, the larvae detach and settle into the streambed as juvenile mussels. Because successful reproduction depends on healthy fish populations, clean water and stable river conditions, changes to water quality, sedimentation or stream flow can interrupt the species’ entire life cycle.

Many other species rely on mussels for both shelter and food, making them a keystone species within the Flint River ecosystem. Their ability to filter water also improves water quality for countless other aquatic organisms.

The bridge project became a local example of how endangered species protections influence planning and permitting.

Scott believes the administration’s revised interpretation may not eliminate similar situations in the future. Instead, he said, determining which protections apply could become even more dependent upon individual biological reviews, agency interpretations and litigation, potentially creating greater uncertainty for developers and regulators alike.

Whether future infrastructure projects ultimately move faster remains unknown.

The Endangered Species Act still contains numerous consultation requirements, while the Clean Water Act, state wildlife regulations and other environmental laws remain in force. Existing biological opinions and permits also continue to apply. Several lawsuits challenging the administration’s new rule are now pending in federal court.

Beyond the Flint River, Southwest Georgia’s biodiversity extends beneath the landscape itself. The Georgia blind salamander and Dougherty Plain cave crayfish inhabit groundwater connected to the Upper Floridan Aquifer, while wetlands and longleaf pine ecosystems support eastern indigo snakes, wood storks and dozens of other rare species. Together, they form one of the Southeast’s most distinctive ecological regions.

As Scott noted, development pressures are also changing. Proposed data centers increasingly seek locations near abundant water supplies because of their cooling demands, placing rivers and aquifers at the center of future growth discussions.

For Albany, the debate extends well beyond federal policy.

It is about whether protecting species means protecting the habitats they depend upon—and how communities balance economic development with one of the most biologically diverse river systems in the Southeast.

For most residents, the conversation may begin with a bridge crossing the Flint River.

Beneath the surface, however, lie mussels, salamanders, cave crayfish and striped newts that few people will ever see, yet whose continued survival may increasingly shape how Southwest Georgia builds its future.