September 24, 2024 – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently announced that Texas will be suing the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Biden administration officials for declaring a rare lizard endangered earlier this year.
The dunes sagebrush lizard lives the southeastern part of New Mexico and west Texas. They rely on a species of oak to make their homes cooler. Shinnery oaks are only four or five feet high, but they provide food, shade and a breeding grounds the lizard and other species. Under the shade of these oak trees, the dunes sagebrush lizard buries itself in the cool, sand, avoiding predators and regulating its body temperature.
The shinnery oak groves have been sprayed with herbicides to make way for cattle grazing across the region. Data on the actual numbers of lizards left and whether or not they are indeed threatened is still coming in.
For 40 years biologist have sent warnings to the federal government that the lizard’s habitat is being threatened.
Paxton is concerned that putting the lizard on the protected list will scare of oil and gas producers and negatively affect the Texas economy. In a statement, Paxton said the listing of the lizard was a violation of the Endangered Species Act, adding that the Fish and Wildlife Service “failed to rely on the best scientific and commercial data” when declaring the lizard endangered and did not take into account conservation efforts already in place to protect the lizard.
