Current work in wildlife, rivers, public lands, and climate

Thursday, June 9, 2011
Republicans Launch Attacks on Endangered Species Act

Amendments Target Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, Lesser Prairie-chicken
Contact: Mark Salvo (503) 757-4221

Two Republican Senators, John Cornyn (R-TX) and JamesInhofe (R-OK), have introduced separate legislation in the past two days thatwould amend the Endangered Species Act to specifically prohibit the U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service from listing two imperiled southwestern species. Cornynhas targeted the dunes sagebrush lizard, while Inhofe seeks to bar listing for thelesser prairie-chicken.

“These systematic attacks on the Endangered Species Actundermine conservation, circumvent science, and ultimately render speciesrecovery more difficult and expensive,” said Mark Salvo of WildEarth Guardians.“If enacted, these amendments would set a horrible precedent for Congressionalmeddling in species conservation—and could doom the lizard and chicken toextinction.”

The dunes sagebrush lizard, also known as the “sand dunelizard,” lives in unique, rare shinnery oak sand dune habitat in the PermianBasin in southeast New Mexico and West Texas. The species is adversely affectedby oil and gas development, livestock grazing, off-road vehicles, and herbicideuse. The lizard’s range has declined by 40 percent and scientists warned 14years ago that remaining populations were in danger of extinction.

The lesser prairie-chicken is a medium-sized grouse thatinhabits shinnery oak and sand sagebrush grasslands in parts of Colorado,Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The species is threatened by myriadland uses and has been reduced to just eight percent of its historic range. Thetotal population has been declined from an estimated 3 million birds historicallyto between 10,000 to more than 50,000 individuals, although some experts havewarned that fewer than 10,000 birds may remain.

Both the dunes sagebrush lizard and the lesserprairie-chicken have been candidates for listing under the Endangered SpeciesAct for more than a decade and the Fish and Wildlife Service has identifiedthem among the most imperiled species on the candidate list. The agencyproposed to list the lizard as “endangered” in December 2010 and is currentlypreparing a listing proposal for the lesser prairie-chicken. The senators’amendments, offered as riders to the Economic Development and RevitalizationAct of 2011 (S. 782), would derail these scientific processes and weaken one ofthe nation’s strongest environmental laws.

“The Endangered Species Act works precisely because politicsare excluded from species listing decisions,” said Salvo.

Listing species under the Endangered Species Act hasproven very effective in preventing species extinction. Over 99 percent ofplants and animals listed under the act persist today. Scientists estimate that227 species would have gone extinct if not for ESA listing. Listed species alsobenefit from the development of federally funded recovery plans and criticalhabitat, if designated.