Landmark Conservation Agreements Keep Dunes Sagebrush Lizard off the Endangered Species List in NM, TX

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that the dunes sagebrush lizard does not need the protection of the Endangered Species Act because unprecedented voluntary conservation agreements now in place in New Mexico and Texas will ensure the long-term protection and recovery of the species. The Service is therefore withdrawing its proposal to add the lizard to the list of species protected under the Endangered Species Act.

“This is a great example of how states and landowners are taking early, landscape-level action to protect a creature and its habitat before it requires the protection of the Endangered Species Act,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “The voluntary conservation efforts of Texas and New Mexico, oil and gas operators, private landowners and other stakeholders show that we don’t have to choose between energy development and the protection our land and wildlife – we can do both.”

State-led voluntary conservation efforts to protect existing shinnery oak dune habitat and reduce the impact of oil and gas development across the species’ range now cover 90 percent of the lizard’s habitat in New Mexico and 70 percent of its habitat in Texas. These measures also minimize the anticipated impacts of other threats, such as off-road vehicle traffic, wind and solar development, and increased predation caused by development.

“The states of New Mexico and Texas have worked tirelessly with the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and scores of landowners and operators in the Permian Basin to conserve and protect habitat that supports the dunes sagebrush lizard and many other species,” said Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “These ongoing efforts will play a key role in ensuring the future of the lizard, while allowing responsible oil and gas development to continue.”

The Endangered Species Act requires that listing decisions be based solely on the best available science. A species is listed as endangered when it is threatened with extinction through all or a significant portion of its range.

Since the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed the rule to list the dunes sagebrush lizard in December, 2010, the Service has received and reviewed a wide range of scientific information, including new information. For example, information provided by the BLM and Texas A&M University has enabled the Service to refine mapping of dunes sagebrush lizard suitable and occupied shinnery oak dune habitat in New Mexico and Texas. This effort has identified more known occupied sites for the lizard, especially in Texas.

After a careful analysis of new peer-reviewed scientific data and the additional protections provided by the voluntary conservation efforts, Service biologists determined the lizard is neither in danger of extinction nor likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future.

In making the announcement, Director Ashe summarized the conservation efforts underway in Texas and New Mexico, including:

In New Mexico (home to about 73 percent of total lizard habitat), the Service partnered in 2008 with the State, BLM and the Center of Excellence for Hazardous Materials Management, a not-for-profit scientific research organization, to develop a combined Candidate Conservation Agreement (CAA) and Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) for the conservation of the lesser-prairie chicken and the dunes sagebrush lizard. These agreements provide an effective mechanism for conservation by allowing oil and gas, and the ranching industry to participate and have their activities covered under this umbrella agreement.

In March, 2012, the New Mexico State Land Office enrolled all lizard habitat on State Trust lands under these agreements.  At the same time, scores of ranching and oil and gas interests operating on private and BLM lands in New Mexico enrolled in the agreements, and BLM removed prime lizard habitat from eligibility for oil and gas leasing. As a result of these actions, more than 90 percent of the total dunes sagebrush lizard habitat in New Mexico is now protected under renewable, 20-year conservation agreements.

In Texas (home to about 27 percent of total lizard habitat), the Service signed a CCAA in February, 2012, with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts that provides for the conservation of the dunes sagebrush lizard in Texas while ensuring regulatory predictability for landowners. The CCAA itself constitutes a conservation plan developed with and administered by the Comptroller’s Office. The Texas Plan also includes input from a variety of stakeholders, including federal, state, and private partners representing interests in natural resources, oil and gas, ranching, and agricultural industries.

The plan provides a suite of conservation measures over 30 years that will avoid and minimize adverse effects to dunes sagebrush lizard habitat, while also providing mitigation to restore habitat that was previously developed. An estimated 70 percent of the lizard’s habitat in Texas is now enrolled under the Texas Plan.

The withdrawal of the proposed rule is available for review at http://www.regulations.gov