Looming ESA listing of Dunes Sagebrush Lizard roils desert Southwest
By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D. |September 16th, 2023
Officials at the Department of Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are within weeks of deciding whether to list a small, light-brown lizard as either threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The dunes sagebrush lizard was proposed for listing under the ESA in late June, giving the public 60 days to submit comments to the FWS. Swamped by comments opposed to the listing, the FWS extended the comment period for an additional 30 days, until Oct. 2. In 2018, the Center for Biological Diversity CBD) petitioned the FWS to add the lizard to the endangered species list, and – after five years of study and bureaucratic inertia – a final decision is expected this fall.
As fate would have it, the lizard’s habitat in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas overlaps with the Permian Basin, home to America’s most productive oil and gas fields. The Permian Basin produces up to 5.8 million barrels of oil per day and has a sizeable impact on the economies of both states.
https://www.cfact.org/2023/09/16/looming-esa-listing-of-dunes-sagebrush-lizard-roils-desert-southwest/
