Federal wildlife officials declared a rare lizard in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas an endangered species Friday, citing future energy development, sand mining and climate change as the biggest threats to its survival in one of the world’s most lucrative oil and natural gas basins. 'We have determined that the dunes sagebrush lizard is in danger of extinction throughout all of its range,' the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.
Even if there were no further expansion of the oil and gas or sand mining industry, the existing footprint of these operations will continue to negatively affect the dunes sagebrush lizard into the future,' the service said in its final determination, published in the Federal Register. The decision caps two decades of legal and regulatory skirmishes between the U.S. government, conservationists and the oil and gas industry.
The Permian Basin Petroleum Association and the New Mexico Oil & Gas Association expressed disappointment, saying the determination flies in the face of available science and ignores longstanding state-sponsored conservation efforts across hundreds of thousands of acres and commitment of millions of dollars in both states.
Several Republican lawmakers sent a letter to officials in the Obama administration asking to delay a final decision, and in 2012, federal officials decided against listing the dunes sagebrush lizard. Then-U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said at the time that the decision was based on the 'best available science' and because of voluntary conservation agreements in place in New Mexico and Texas.