Victory at last (we hope) for the dunes sagebrush lizard

After more than a decade of staling out by Texas officials, starting with Susan Combs, and a shitload of corruption by US Fish and Wildlife Service, last week FWS finally extended Endangered Species Act listing to the dunes sagebrush lizard.

More from regional media and from Center for Biological Diversity.

Let's start with them, before my old blogging, because it backgrounds the story well, starting with the early history:

The Service identified the dunes sagebrush lizard as needing protection in 1982 but didn’t act. In 2002 the Center submitted a scientific petition to place the lizard on the endangered species list. Prompted by the Center’s follow-up litigation, the Service proposed to protect the lizard in 2010. However, the agency instead struck a deal with the Texas Comptroller’s Office to deny the lizard protection in exchange for non-binding agreements to safeguard some of the animal’s habitat.

That's where Susan Combs, then the state comptroller, comes in.

That said, she had company, including the likes of Tricky Ricky Perry and Wayne Christian.

And, lizard liars outside of government.

And, continuing lizard backstabbing by the feds under Kenny Boy Salazar, Dear Leader's oily Secretary of the Interior.

That said? The biggest problem was often FWS itself. From CBD's link again:

In 2018 the Center again petitioned for protection and the Service issued an initial finding that a listing was warranted. But it took another lawsuit in 2022 to prompt today’s decision. 

The Service has long failed to provide timely protections to species in need. The entire process of listing species and designating critical habitat is supposed to take two to three years. On average it has taken the Service 12 years, and in many cases decades, to protect qualifying species. At least 47 species have gone extinct while awaiting protection.

How true.

And, we've not even talked about FWS management corruption. Oops, guess we have now! That's a long read, but if you have thought before now that middle and upper management at the Fish and Wildlife Service care that much about fish and widlife, other than for hunters and anglers, you need to read the full thing. There's more of that at this piece, from just two months ago, where I wasn't sure if protection would happen, and where I also called out Texas Monthly for pulling some punches. (As of yesterday, neither it nor the Trib had a story about the ruling.)

That said, per that image just above, per Twitter friend Chris Nagano, this isn't set in stone yet.

I quote:

Some USFWS higher ups & managers still have many tricks up their sleeves to continue serving their masters by ensuring the listed Lizard doesn’t stop or slow down any oil & gas projects

I have little doubts that things such as the conservation easements, which sound similar to what Combs pitched more than a decade ago, can be sabotaged, undermined, OKed without follow-up monitoring or other things.

I quote from the FWS release:

Conservation efforts for imperiled species can be greatly expanded through collaborative approaches that foster cooperation and the exchange of ideas among stakeholders. In New Mexico and Texas, around 100 ranchers and 100 oil and gas partners have enrolled in voluntary agreements to implement conservation practices that address specific threats with assurances that if the species is listed, they can continue to manage their land outlined in their agreements with no additional requirements or restrictions.

And, there's other ways this could be undercut, quoting again:

The designation of critical habitat was found to be prudent but not determinable at this time. The Service has up to one year from the time of listing to propose critical habitat.

Emphasis added by me, because this is where the rubber hits the road.

Stay tuned. And push FWS to designate that critical habitat. 

The proposed and final rules, as well as the comments received on the proposed rule, are available at http://www.regulations.gov by searching docket number FWS-R2-ES-2022-0162. The final rule is effective 30 days after posting in the Federal Register.

There you are. Unfortunately, you cannot comment on the final rule. I've emailed the CBD author about any other places to comment, but haven't heard back yet. You can visit FWS's Facebook page, specifically this post that talks about the dunes sagebrush lizard and give that a shot. Or the webmail contact form at the FWS website.

New Mexico Political Report also has a piece up, and talks to Michael Robinson of CBD about the types of threats the lizard faces. Per Chris Nagano and Lyle Lewis, also formerly of the FWS, and per what I am suspecting, FWS administrators may remain cozy with the oil and gas folks who still want to gut this. From NMPR: 

Industry groups have maintained that candidate conservation agreements—voluntary agreements to protect species that are being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act—are making sufficient strides and that the listing is unnecessary and will have a detrimental effect on the economy of southeastern New Mexico. 

“The existing CCA and [candidate conservation agreements with assurances] in New Mexico and Texas have provided, and continue to provide, many conservation benefits for the dunes sagebrush lizard. However, based on the information we reviewed in our assessment, we conclude that the risk of extinction for the dunes sagebrush lizard is high despite these efforts,” the Fish and Wildlife Service wrote in the document announcing the listing. 

The Fish and Wildlife Service states that the habitat loss has continued even with the CCAs in place.

So, FWS, why aren't you already defining and determining critical habitat? You've had 42 years.

Robinson said the lizard relies on the shinnery oak to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter, when it buries itself in the sand near the oak’s extensive roots. 

But the listing decision issued this week was not fully good news, according to Robinson. Critical habitat has not yet been designated. 

“Fish and Wildlife Service is saying that they might take up to a year to propose areas for critical habitat and we think this is an entirely unnecessary and unwarranted delay,” he said.

So, FWS, why aren't you already defining and determining critical habitat? You've had 42 years.