WASHINGTON, D.C. — New regulations will make it easier to recover species listed under the Endangered Species Act by allowing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to introduce threatened or endangered species to places outside of their original habitats in certain circumstances.

“Climate change makes recovering endangered species even more difficult because many habitats are already shifting,” said Mike Leahy, senior policy director of wildlife and hunting. “I don’t think this tool will be used all that often, but it will be important for biologists to have it in the toolbox when needed."

The regulations allow the agency to introduce “experimental populations” into new locations when the species’ original habitat is no longer capable, or will soon no longer be capable, of supporting the listed species due to threats such as climate change or invasive species. The previous regulations only allowed for this to happen in extreme circumstances.

This is a particular issue on the Hawaiian Islands, where invasive species make it challenging to recover species in their historic habitats. The Fish and Wildlife Service has stated they will investigate any possible negative ecological effects of introducing these experimental populations and will remove them if necessary.