Group sues over endangered plants found in Eddy County

A California-based environmental law firm is suing the federal government over its classification of certain plant species in the southwest. Two of the plants that have warranted attention in the lawsuit are native to Eddy County. Daniel Himebaugh, an attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, says the government ignored a 2012 petition arguing for the reclassification of five plant species found in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma. The Kuenzler hedgehog cactus and gypsum wild-buckwheat found in Eddy County are listed among the five plants that PLF believes should either be downlisted to a threatened species or delisted and removed from government protection all together. The Kuenzler hedgehog cactus is currently labeled as an endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act. According to Bureau of Land Management Wildlife Biologist Johnny Chopp, the classification means the species could potentially become extinct. The "threatened" label affecting the gypsum wild-buckwheat identifies it as a species that has the potential to become endangered. But Himebaugh claims scientists working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommended in 2005 and 2007 that neither plant should keep its current classification...more