US wildlife managers on 30 June proposed federal protections for a rare lizard found only in parts of one of the world’s most lucrative oil and natural gas basins.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service said the dunes sagebrush lizard should be listed as an endangered species because of the ongoing threats of energy development, mining, and climate change in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. The agency will be collecting public comments on the proposed listing through Sept. 1.
Environmentalists have been pushing for protections for the reptile for decades, resulting in petitions and lawsuits. There have also been conservation agreements, but some groups have criticized them for not doing enough to protect the lizard’s habitat.
The Center for Biological Diversity sued in 2022, accusing the agency of stalling on issuing a decision. The Fish and Wildlife Service, as part of a court-approved agreement, faced a 29 June deadline for making a determination on whether listing was warranted.
“The dunes sagebrush lizard is marvelously adapted for life in extreme environments but it needs our help to survive the oil and gas industry’s destruction,” Michael Robinson, with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “The Service needs to move quickly to implement these long-overdue protections.”
Robinson said the 2.5-in.-long lizard has the second smallest range of any lizard in North America.
Biologists aren’t able to say how many lizards might exist because there are so few of them and they’re hard to detect, making precise counts very difficult. However, they note there are fewer lizards detected in areas where there are more oil and gas wells or areas where habitat has been disturbed.
Light brown and spiny, the lizard lives in sand dunes and among shinnery oak, where it feeds on insects and spiders and burrows into the sand for protection from extreme temperatures.
Much of the lizard’s remaining habitat has been fragmented, preventing the species from finding mates beyond those already living close by, according to biologists.
Oil and gas operators and ranchers in the Permian Basin have strongly opposed listing the reptile as an endangered species, saying doing so could disrupt businesses and add extra costs. They have argued that oil and gas companies already have spent millions of dollars on conservation efforts, including through voluntary agreements reached with wildlife managers.