Thursday, April 26, 2012
Feds Reject Protection for Rare New Mexico Flower

More Listing Decisions Due for New Mexico under Species Settlement Agreement
Contact: Mark Salvo (505) 988-9126 x1165

Santa Fe – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declined to consider listing the Aztec gilia (Aliciella formosa) as “threatened” or “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act. WildEarth Guardians petitioned to list the species in February 2010.

Aztec gilia occurs in semi-desert habitat near the towns of Aztec and Bloomfield in San Juan County, New Mexico. It grows in sandy clay soils and has long, pinkish-purple, trumpet-shaped flowers that bloom from late April through May. WildEarth Guardians is concerned about the potential effects of oil and gas development, road construction, livestock grazing and off-road vehicle use on the species.  

The Aztec gilia is one of more than 800 species covered in WildEarth Guardians’ settlement agreement with the Fish and Wildlife Service, announced on May 10, 2011, and approved by a federal court on September 9, 2011. The agreement obligates the agency to make final listing determinations for 253 species by September 2016, all but one of which are formal candidates for ESA protection. These include a number of species that occur in New Mexico, including the lesser prairie-chicken, dunes sagebrush lizard, Mexican wolf, and Jemez Mountains salamander. The settlement resolved 12 lawsuits that Guardians filed challenging the government’s failure to timely list species under the act, and attempts to fix a listing program that has failed to function properly since the Reagan Administration. It also schedules petition findings, 12-month listing determinations, and critical habitat designations for more than 600 additional species. In return, WildEarth Guardians consented to dismiss its lawsuits and will refrain from suing Interior over missed listing deadlines for the next five years. The Service met all of its obligations under the agreement for FY 2011, taking action on 730 species.