The Texas Conservation Plan has not slowed oil and gas well development in dunes sagebrush lizard habitat

Jacob Malcom,Matthew Moskwik

doi:10.12688/f1000research.15346.1

Abstract

Background: The dunes sagebrush lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus) is an imperiled species that is restricted to shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) sand dune habitats in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas, USA. This region is also a hotspot of oil and gas development that is a major threat to the species. Methods: Here we use well data and a natural experiment to test the effectiveness of voluntary conservation agreements for slowing or stopping oil and gas well approval in the lizard’s habitat in New Mexico and Texas. Results: We show that the Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA) and CCA with Assurances in New Mexico, both of which contain strong avoidance mechanisms, are associated with a steep decline in oil and gas well approval in the New Mexico portion of the lizard’s range, but not outside the lizard’s range. By contrast, the Texas Conservation Plan (TCP), which does not include mandatory avoidance, is not associated with any decline of oil and gas well approval in the lizard's Texas range relative to the broader landscape. Conclusions: These results indicate that the TCP is insufficient to conserve the lizard in Texas, thereby jeopardizing genetic and geographic representation across the range of the species.

Highlights

The dunes sagebrush lizard (DSL; Sceloporus arenicolus) is an imperiled species whose distribution is restricted to shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) sand dunes in the Mescalero Sandhills of eastern New Mexico and the Monahans Sandhills of West Texas, USA (Degenhardt et al, 1996; Fitzgerald & Painter, 2009)
CCAs with Assurances (CCAAs) are similar to Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA), but apply only to non-federal parties and include assurances that enrollees will not face Endangered Species Act (ESA) restrictions beyond those described in the CCAA if the covered species is listed in the future. (Federal agencies are not eligible for CCAAs because they cannot be exempted from the duty to avoid jeopardizing listed species under section 7(a)(2).) Parties in New Mexico drafted a CCA and complementary CCAA to protect lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) and S. arenicolus habitat in December, 2008
We observed that the rate of new well approval was much lower within the DSL habitat than outside of the DSL habitat after the adoption of the CCA/As in New Mexico (Figure 1); the rate of new well approvals was no different inside versus outside of DSL habitat after the adoption of the Texas Conservation Plan (TCP) in Texas (Figure 2)

Summary

Introduction

The dunes sagebrush lizard (DSL; Sceloporus arenicolus) is an imperiled species whose distribution is restricted to shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) sand dunes in the Mescalero Sandhills of eastern New Mexico and the Monahans Sandhills of West Texas, USA (Degenhardt et al, 1996; Fitzgerald & Painter, 2009). (Federal agencies are not eligible for CCAAs because they cannot be exempted from the duty to avoid jeopardizing listed species under section 7(a)(2).) Parties in New Mexico drafted a CCA (for federal entities) and complementary CCAA (for non-federal entities) to protect lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) and S. arenicolus habitat in December, 2008 These CCA/As include strong requirements to avoid the lizard’s shinnery oak sand dune habitats (U.S Fish and Wildlife Service et al, 2008; U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and the Center for Excellence in Hazardous Materials Management, 2008), which reflect the practices of the Bureau of Land Management in their Range Management Plan for the species (BLM, 2008). Conclusions: These results indicate that the TCP is insufficient to conserve the lizard in Texas, thereby jeopardizing genetic and geographic representation across the range of the species

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