Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has appointed Susan Combs, a fierce opponent of the Endangered Species Act, as acting secretary of fish, wildlife, and parks—just the latest example of an administration determined to populate government with people who object to the very policies over which they have direct authority. The former Texas comptroller once equated endangered-species listings to “incoming Scud missiles.” She was originally nominated to be assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget, but that nomination has stalled due to opposition from Democratic and Republican legislators.

Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat for Florida, has cited the administration’s proposals for offshore drilling as one cause of concern. Combs has come out in favor of fossil fuels, and the assignment to the wildlife position is a way to keep an ally for Zinke within leadership in the Interior. 

As a Texas rancher, Combs petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2015 to remove the golden-cheeked warbler, a small songbird, from the Endangered Species list, arguing that the warbler’s habitat and population size had grown since its inclusion on the list in 1990. According to the National Audubon Society, the warbler is a particularly localized bird; its only nesting place in the world is central Texas.

Before the warbler, Combs worked against the listing of the dunes sagebrush lizard in 2012. The lizard, a spiny insectivorous species, is found in only four counties in Texas. Its main habitat, sand dunes, are often sites of oil activities.

“Susan Combs has a demonstrated hostility toward the Endangered Species Act,” Bob Dreher, senior vice president for conservation programs for Defenders of Wildlife, told Sierra. “When she was the Texas comptroller, she actively worked to undercut species protections in that state. Her appointment is a matter of great concern to Defenders of Wildlife.” 

The appointment of Combs comes at a time when the Endangered Species Act is already under siege. Robert Bishop, a Republican representative of Utah, sent five bills to the Natural Resources Committee, which he chairs, to start a process of immobilizing the act altogether. The bills include proposals to consider economic factors when listing species instead of only scientific reasoning, the long-standing approach to conservation embodied in the law, and deferring to states to collect data on species. The USFWS and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency have been in charge of data collection since the inception of the act in 1973.

The other bills remove the protections for gray wolves in midwestern states and strip citizens of the ability to file court claims for the protection of certain species. Courts would also not be allowed to question the validity of the government’s decisions on delisting of species, including how they came to the conclusions based on “best available science.”