18 congressional leaders join bipartisan opposition to listing of dunes sagebrush lizard

A bi-partisan letter from 18 congressional leaders opposing the proposed listing of the dunes sagebrush lizard under the Endangered Species Act has been submitted to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, according to a press release. Federal wildlife officials are set to deliver their decision on the dunes sagebrush lizard in December. U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., is among the 18 representatives who signed the letter. The letter also calls for at least a six-month delay of a listing decision to gather more credible science and to allow for current conservation efforts to enroll additional participants and to grow a private funding base. "Given the growing body of evidence, we ask that the Fish and Wildlife Service not list the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered or threatened," the Representatives wrote in the letter. "If the Service feels that it cannot make that determination at this time, then at a minimum, we request that it delays its final decision by at least six months to take into account the rapidly evolving state of facts on the ground." The letter continued: "As with all listings, the crux of our concerns is the science underpinning this decision; there simply is not enough information to credibly argue that the species is declining. There are also important questions about the science on which Fish and Wildlife based this proposed listing." The science available to the Fish and Wildlife Service warrant the listing has continued to come under question, drawing a similar letter from Sens. Tom Udall and Jeff Bingaman, both Democrats representing New Mexico. The congressional leaders note in their letter that there is a study out that shows that the lizard's population has actually increased by a factor of 2.4 in areas where oil and gas wells were present compared to an increase by a factor of 1.6 in areas without wells...more

Also see NM senators seek delay in lizard decision.