Groups push to list Sagebrush lizard under the ESA

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Defenders of Wildlife issued a petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) last week to list the dunes sagebrush lizard under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In 2012, as a result of “unprecedented commitments to voluntary conservation agreements” in Texas and New Mexico, the USFWS decided a listing was unnecessary. The environmental groups however claim that the voluntary conservation efforts have failed, and the lizard’s habitat is at risk from oil and gas exploration and drilling. According to the USFWS, the lizard is a specialist dependent upon the shinnery oak dune habitat found mostly in the southeast corner of New Mexico and part of the Texas Panhandle. “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 in the group’s joint announcement with CBD. The petition starts a process whereby the USFWS must take action within a set amount of time—usually 90 days—or be at risk of a lawsuit. — WLJ