SILVER CITY, N.M.— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today added the dunes sagebrush lizard of southeastern New Mexico and West Texas to the list of endangered species and pledged to follow up by designating critical habitat.

The lizards are native to a small portion of the Permian Basin and have lost more than 95% of their habitat to oil and gas development and the mining of sand for fracking.

“What a tremendous relief for this little lizard’s survival,” said Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “After four decades of the government sitting on its hands, these lizards are finally protected from oil spills and giant machines scooping up sand. Designating critical habitat will close any loopholes that might still allow the destruction of the beautiful oak-dotted dunes where these animals live.”

Even before the drilling boom, as early as 1982, the Service identified the lizards as likely needing protection in part because of the destruction of their habitat for agriculture. But the Service didn’t act until a 2022 lawsuit and legal agreement with the Center forced the agency to move.

The 2.5-inch-long dunes sagebrush lizard has the second-smallest range of any lizard in North America. The lizards inhabit a rare ecosystem where they hunt insects and spiders in wind-blown dunes. They burrow into the sand beneath low-lying shinnery oak shrubs for protection from extreme temperatures.

“For too long, the oil and gas industry was allowed to destroy this little lizard’s habitat,” said Robinson. “As much for our own future as the lizard’s, we must drastically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.”

Background

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.

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.