Adrian Hedden
El Rito Media
achedden@currentargus.com

Southern New Mexico is host to what conservationists say are some of the state’s most imperiled species of fish, birds and reptiles, and the species’ status has ignited a debate pitting ecological preservation against economic progress.

Several federal decisions on protections for New Mexico’s native animals suffering dwindling populations were made in 2024, with others potentially to come in 2025.

The decision-making centers around the Endangered Species Act, which allows plants and animals to be listed as either “endangered” or “threatened.” Endangered means extinction is imminent, and such a listing requires critical habitat to be set aside and a recovery plan to be developed.

Threatened means an endangered listing could soon be warranted, and tasks the agency with studying and tracking the species in decline, aiming to prevent its numbers from dropping lower.

Here’s a rundown of endangered species actions in New Mexico in the last year, and what could be coming.

Pinyon jay at center of lawsuit

The pinyon jay, a bird native to the forests of southern New Mexico, feeds on the nuts of the iconic pinyon pine trees throughout Lincoln National Forest. The birds deposit nuts in the soil to store them for winter, which allows more trees to germinate and grow.

The jay’s numbers decreased by about 85% in the 13 states where the bird dwells across the American West, according to a report from Defenders of Wildlife. Half of the remaining population was expected to be lost by 2035.

Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to review the status of the species while it conducted its own research in response to Defenders of Wildlife’s petition that the bird be listed as endangered.

That group sued the agency this year after the release of its Domestic Working Plan in October, which appeared to push off a final decision on the bird to 2028. In 2025, the lawsuit could be taken up by U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, perhaps leading to an earlier decision.

Peñasco least chipmunk endangered

The Peñasco least chipmunk was afforded the highest level of federal protections to prevent its extinction, as the Fish and Wildlife Service agreed Dec. 9 to list it as endangered.

The animal is native to the Sacramento and White mountains in southeast New Mexico, mostly in Lincoln County and within the Lincoln National Forest.

Today, the chipmunk survives only in the White Mountains within the forest and is imperiled by the loss of conifer trees it uses for cover from predators while foraging for food, the Fish and Wildlife Service said.

Along with listing the chipmunk as endangered, the government designated about 4,386 acres in Lincoln County as critical habitat, read a news release from the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The designation excluded Mescalero Apache tribal lands in the region and the Ski Apache Resort operated by the tribe under a special use permit with the U.S. Forest Service, the release read.

The chipmunk’s listing was opposed by the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau, which argued it would damage the local agriculture industry.

Pecos pupfish proposal draws industry ire

On Nov. 21, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the Pecos pupfish as threatened, opening a 60-day public comment period that will conclude this month, with a 12-month finding required in January 2026.

Threats to the pupfish include drought and climate change, the announcement read, along with declining water quality and the invasive sheepshead minnow, which was introduced to the river in the 1970s and ’80s. The larger sheepshead grows faster and outcompetes the Pecos pupfish for food and other resources, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Today, the species is limited to Chaves County just north of the Permian Basin oilfields and an “isolated” population in Salt Creek in Reeves County, a western Texas area where oil and gas operations are plentiful.

But the agency believes the population could be restored throughout the region, and the Permian Basin Petroleum Association expressed dire concerns that a listing could negatively impact the industry’s access to water needed in drilling.

Texas sues over dunes sagebrush lizard

The dunes sagebrush lizard native to southeast New Mexico and west Texas was listed as endangered in May 2024, despite allegations by the oil and gas industry that the efforts to do so were meant to stymie fossil fuel production.

The lizard dwells in the sand dunes that are typical of the arid landscape but recently have seen an influx of oil rigs and pumpjacks as energy development boomed in the area.

The sand that makes up the dunes is often mined for use in hydraulic fracturing – the process commonly known as “fracking” that oil companies use to pump a mixture of sand, liquid and chemicals underground to break up rock formations and extract crude oil and natural gas.

Conservationists argued that oilfield infrastructure also encroached on the habitat of the lizard, impacting the shinnery oak bushes the species relies on to breed and hide from predators.

Despite these concerns the State of Texas and its Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit on Sept. 23, 2024, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas’ Midland-Odessa Division.

The suit sought to overturn the listing, and was awaiting a decision from the court that could reopen thousands of acres in the Permian to development.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.