WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, July 6, 2006
New Mexico Endangered Species List Comes Up Short

Report Exposes Inadequacy of State Wildlife Conservation Program
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

Santa Fe, NM - The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) is notadequately protecting the state’s unique natural heritage, according to a report released yesterday by WildEarth Guardians. According to the report by the Santa Fe-based conservation organization, 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 nine 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 nearly doubled, from 672 species in 1991 to 1,310 in 2006. Across all 50 states, New Mexico ranks #3 in the nation in terms of 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.

“We were shocked to find that animals for whom the state professes to have conservation programs have not even been flagged as in danger,” stated Dr. Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians. “Listing at the state level is a small but obvious first step signaling the need to reform policies that are ushering native wildlife toward extinction.”

WildEarth Guardians released the report in response to the New Mexico Game and FishDepartment’s biennial review of the threatened and endangered wildlife program. The group also charged that conservation recommendations provided by the Game and Fish Department are either absent or too vague to be meaningful.

“The state needs to step up its efforts to protect native wildlife in the face of the Bush Administration’s assault on public lands,” 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, wildlife species awaiting federal protection, including the Lesser Prairie-Chicken and Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo, should be listed at the state level but are not.

WildEarth Guardians also noted that, given the Bush Administration’s assault on the federal Endangered Species Act, the need for an active state conservation program is urgent. The report states, “a strong New Mexico species conservation program should serve as a vibrant complement to Endangered Species Act enforcement at the federal level… a state listing can provide an important red flag to private parties and government agencies at all levels.”

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 fish, the Desert Pocket gopher, the Mountain Plover, and the Gunnison’s Prairie Dog. In addition, WildEarth Guardians has requested that free-roaming bison entering the state from Mexico be listed as endangered by the state of New Mexico.

The report also concludes that most state listed species have not been provided with any conservation recommendations. This is despite a multitude of threats - including game fish stocking and direct killing - over which the Game and Fish Department has direct control. In addition, WildEarth Guardians urged the Game and Fish Department 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.