The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s recent listing of the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard brought a big “say what?” from ranchers, landowners and oil and gas companies who had spent decades conserving the lizard’s habitat.
With FWS spokeswoman Beth Ullenberg warning that fines of $50,000 and prison terms could be assessed to those who failed to comply, the threatened individuals and companies said they had complied perfectly with the Texas Conservation Plan and it had proved much more effective in protecting the lizard than the federal Endangered Species Act, which only had a 2 percent species recovery rate.
“The ESA has been manipulated and used as a political tool by environmental activist organizations for many years to disrupt oil and natural gas operations and the federal government is a willing participant despite the proactive, collaborative and successful efforts by our industry to protect the habitat of this species,” said Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association President Ed Longanecker. “These tactics could delay or prevent permits that are needed for exploration and production activities, all by design, and have a reverberating impact on the U.S. economy.”
The American Conservation Foundation said in 2020 that less than 20 percent of the lizard’s allowed habitat acres had been disturbed by TCP participants.
“This low number indicates that the proactive management efforts of TCP participants on private lands is protecting DSL habitat from agricultural and industrial development,” the ACF said. “TCP participants continue to promote the conservation for DSL habitat while continuing to promote economic development for private landowners in the Permian Basin.”
Implemented in 2012, the TCP was developed in consultation with federal and state agencies and organizations including the Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Texas A&M University, the Texas Railroad Commission and the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.
Then-Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the agreement was “the right thing for conservation and the right thing for the economy.”
Last month August Pfluger introduced a congressional review to nullify the lizard’s listing while the Permian Basin Petroleum Association and the New Mexico Oil & Gas Association challenged the quality of the science used to list the DSL, noting that the FWS report found that the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard only occupied about 4 percent of the Permian Basin.
“Listing the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard as an endangered species is another effort by the Biden Administration to shut down drilling in the Permian Basin,” Pfluger said. “President Biden is attempting to use a lizard as a weapon against the oil and gas industry.”
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said an endangered species listing for the lizard “would have had devastating consequences for Texas jobs and for the nation’s energy security” while American Petroleum Association President Scott Lauermann said the designation “could delay the permits that companies need for every phase of oil and gas exploration and extraction.”
Permian Basin Petroleum Association President Ben Shepperd said the lizard is not in danger of extinction.
“Not overnight but over the coming months, we believe that this is going to lead to a decrease in drilling and in job losses,” Shepperd said.
Arkansas Congressman Bruce Westerman, the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee in Washington, D.C., said it “is time to restore some common sense to the ESA and make it work for the American people, not use it as a bludgeon for political gain.
“This is another disappointing announcement for the farmers, ranchers and domestic energy producers who are all working diligently to be good stewards of the environment and wildlife habitat,” Westerman said.
