Lizard conservation plan approved

While it still needs to be signed, the Texas Conservation Plan for the dunes sagebrush lizard has been approved and is in its final stages, U.S. Fish and Wildlife representative Tom Buckley said.

Conservation plans allow landowners to work with the government voluntarily to protect species’ habitat while maintaining work on the land, such as ranching or oil and gas production.

In the past, landowners and oil and gas companies in southeastern New Mexico signed candidate conservation agreements, or candidate conservation agreements with assurances, to coordinate management of the species.

Under such agreements, potential lizard populations are located within the habitat and projects are either moved or not started in that particular area. 

Members of the Texas Oil and Gas Association said they viewed the plan as a solution balancing wildlife considerations while maintaining oil and gas production, a news release stated.

It is the first plan in the U.S. to address conservation and recovery measures for the dunes sagebrush lizard, the release stated.

Environmentalists are also pleased with the new measure.

After having been a candidate for the endangered listing since 2001, the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed the lizard’s listing in 2007 facing the threat of a lawsuit for inaction from the group WildEarth Guardians. The federal government would have classified the lizard as endangered in December, however the Fish and Wildlife Service pushed back the final decision till June 2012 to allow for additional submissions of scientific research and more public comments.

The delay was viewed negatively by some environmentalists who saw it as caving to the demands of the oil and gas industry’s lobbyists and the Texas and New Mexico politicians who had worked to keep the lizard off the listing. Under the latest version of the Endangered Species Act, economic considerations are not allowed to factor in.  

Jay Lininger, a representative of the Center for Biological Diversity, said that while the plan is not a substitute for an Endangered Species Listing, it’s still a positive thing.

“This plan is a good step forward, Lininger said.

Members of the Texas Oil and Gas Association hope the plan will lead to a decision to keep the lizard off the endangered species list, the release stated.

However, citing studies of lizard habitat, Lininger said that very little land would be impacted.

“Even if everyone signed up, it would impact a tiny sliver of the oil patch,” Lininger said.

@OAhealth