Federal protection sought for sagebrush lizard
Permian Basin habitat in southeastern New Mexico, West Texas is considered key oil and natural gas drilling area
Two environmental groups asked the federal government this week to add the dunes sagebrush lizard to the endangered species list, renewing a debate about conservation in the heart of New Mexico’s oil country.
The small, brown reptile lives in a sliver of desert that runs across the Permian Basin of southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. Oil and gas production in the area threatens to wipe out the species, argue the Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife.
The lizards, which measure 2 to 3 inches long, not counting their tails, survive in New Mexico and four counties of Texas that have dunes flecked with shinnery oak, foliage that provides shade and food for the insect-eaters.
Environmental groups previously asked the federal government to grant the dunes sagebrush lizard endangered species protection in 2011. But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined when the Texas and New Mexico governments adopted plans to protect the reptile.
The latest petition, on Tuesday, argues Texas’ plan in particular does not go far enough.
The groups contend the plan does not address new concerns about the mining of sand for fracking. And the petition says that confidentiality provisions in the Texas plan mean that even federal officials do not know how much of the lizard’s habitat is being protected.
The groups also raised concerns that even with the current plans in place, the species’ habitat is becoming more fragmented.
“Without our listing petition to compel action, the dunes sagebrush lizard is at great risk of going extinct in Texas,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO for Defenders of Wildlife.
Endangered species status would give new protections to the lizard’s habitat, which could place new limits on oil and gas production in part of the booming Permian Basin.
U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., whose
district includes the lizard’s habitat, said the plans already in place to protect the lizard are “efficient and effective.”
“These efforts should be given every opportunity to succeed in order to avoid consequential economic effects that an endangered species listing would bring,” said Pearce, who is also running for governor.
Either way, the petition is only the beginning of what is likely to be a long process.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has one year to determine whether protection for the dunes sagebrush lizard is warranted.
Susan Combs, the former Texas official who brokered the agreement on preserving the lizard’s habitat in her state, now oversees wildlife policy for the U.S. Interior Department.
Follow Andrew Oxford on Twitter @andrewboxford.