Endangered Species Law & Policy

On September 30, 2014, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upheld (PDF) the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) decision to withdraw (PDF) its proposal to list the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species.  The Service found that threats to the lizard and its habitat have been reduced such that the species no longer meets the statutory definition of an endangered (or threatened) species.  

The dunes sagebrush lizard’s (Sceloporus arenicolus) range spans approximately 745,000 acres across southeastern New Mexico and western Texas in shinnery oak dune habitat.  The lizard’s habitat also lies within the Permian Basin, one of the most significant sources of oil and gas in the United States.  The Service’s 2010 proposal (PDF) to list the lizard as endangered identified increasing pressure on the species’ specialized habitat from conventional and renewable energy development.

The Service’s determination that the lizard and its habitat are protected to a level that the lizard is no longer in danger of extinction now or in the foreseeable future was based on existing and future anticipated conservation measures.  The Policy for Evaluation of Conservation Efforts When Making Listing Decisions (PECE) (PDF) allows the Service to consider conservation efforts that have not yet been implemented, so long as the Service evaluates, the certainty that the conservation effort[s] will be implemented . . . [and] the certainty that the conservation effort[s] will be effective.