Settlement reached over critical habitat in NM

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and two environmental groups have reached a settlement that requires the agency to consider designating critical habitat for four endangered species found in southeastern New Mexico and Texas. A federal judge approved the settlement Tuesday. It gives the agency until March 11 to propose the designation of critical habitat in the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Roswell. Three of the species — the Roswell springsnail, Koster's springsnail and Noel's amphipod — are found only at the refuge. The fourth species, the Pecos assiminea snail, is found at the refuge and two spots in Texas. Under the settlement, the Fish and Wildlife Service will have to make a final decision on whether to set aside critical habitat at the refuge and in Texas by July 2010. "Time is of the essence and we've lost a lot of time already," Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity said, referring to the legal battle that resulted in the settlement. The Fish and Wildlife Service initially proposed designating more than 1,500 acres of critical habitat for the Pecos assiminea snail and just over 1,100 for the other three in 2002. A final decision released in 2005 trimmed the Pecos snail's critical habitat to nearly 400 acres in Texas and did not designate any critical habitat for the other species. The action prompted the center and WildEarth Guardians to sue. The groups argued that without critical habitat, the four species would be vulnerable to oil and gas development and other threats....