WildEarth Guardians

Friday, September 5, 2008
New Mexico Endangered Species List Comes Up Short

Report Argues for Increased Protection of Endangered Species by the State
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

WildEarth Guardians sent a report yesterday to the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF), criticizing the agency’s failure to list dozens of imperiled species under the state Wildlife Conservation Act. According to the conservation group, nearly 30 imperiled animal species are not listed by the state, including the federally listed lynx, Mexican spotted owl, and Chiricahua leopard frog. WildEarth Guardians also requested that eight species currently listed by the state be upgraded from threatened to endangered status.

Since 1991, only one species (the gray-banded kingsnake) has been added to the state list. In the same time period, the number of U.S. species listed at the federal level has doubled, from 672 species in 1991 to 1,353 in 2008. Across all 50 states, New Mexico ranks #3 in the nation in the number of mammalian species at risk, #2 in terms of the number of bird species at risk, and #3 in terms of the number of reptilian species at risk.

“The state has refused for nearly two decades to recognize highly imperiled species, such as the lesser prairie-chicken, as endangered,” stated Dr. Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians. “While not a substitute for federal protection, listing at the state level is an important first step signaling the need to reform policies that are ushering native wildlife toward extinction.”

WildEarth Guardians released the report in response to the NMDGF’s biennial review of the threatened and endangered wildlife program, the comment period for which closed yesterday. The group also criticized the lack of scrutiny within NMDGF’s biennial review of the embattled Mexican wolf reintroduction program.

The report also noted that, given the Republican administration’s assault on the federal Endangered Species Act, the need for an active state conservation program is urgent. “The state needs to step up its efforts to protect native wildlife in the face of federal attacks on public lands and endangered species,” stated Rosmarino.

WildEarth Guardians’ report found that eight species that are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, and which naturally occur in New Mexico, are not listed by the state. In addition, formal candidates for federal protection, including the lesser prairie-chicken, western yellow-billed cuckoo, and Gunnison’s prairie dog, should be listed at the state level but are not.

Other species not included on the state list include wildlife species that are recognized by state heritage programs to be imperiled and vulnerable. Examples include several types of endangered southwestern fish, the desert pocket gopher, and the mountain plover.

The report also urges the NMDGF to participate in National Environmental Policy Act processes regarding land uses on public lands. Opportunities for the state to challenge activities carried out or permitted by federal agencies include oil and gas leasing, livestock grazing, and logging projects on U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands.

View the report