People in Midland like to say God felt such remorse for the dry, dusty landscape that he decided to give it oil.
He also gave it the dunes sagebrush lizard, and now, the tiny, sand-dwelling reptile could put a halt to oil and gas exploration and production in parts of West Texas and harm school budgets across the state.
The federal government has proposed that the lizard, which has all but disappeared from these parts, be listed as an endangered species — a designation that could save it from extinction but slow the pace in one of the nation’s most prolific oil patches.
Oilmen and some state and local officials fear that adding the lizard to the list could put the brakes on drilling, road and pipeline construction and other activities – at least while the federal government studies their impact on the habitat in seven West Texas counties, including the top two oil-producing counties in the state.
“It’s reptile dysfunction,” said Jerry Patterson, the state’s land commissioner, who has filed comments with federal officials in opposition of the proposed listing.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking legal protection for the lizard because of the dramatic loss of its habitat due to oil and gas activity and cattle grazing.
State opposes protection
The imperiled creature lives only among stands of shinnery oak, a relatively rare tree that thrives in the sand dunes of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Beneath the tree, which is more like a bush in height, the three-inch lizard buries itself in the sand to avoid predators and regulate its body temperature.
Patterson entered the fray because he is the elected steward of the state’s land and mineral wealth in trust for the $26 billion permanent fund to benefit public education. He said the federal listing could lead to restrictions on roughly 30,000 acres of public land that provide revenue for the school fund through leases and royalties.
The Texas General Land Office, which Patterson leads, earned a record $108 million for drilling rights in school fund lands during a quarterly auction last month.
“If we had this hanging over us, do you think people will be writing checks just for the right to drill?” he said. “It will bring exploration and production to a screeching halt.”
Environmentalists say that’s not so. The lizard, they say, has a specific habitat that accounts for 600,000 acres, or less than 1 percent, of all oil lands in the Permian Basin.
“There is more than enough land to explore and drill and to protect the dunes sagebrush lizard,” said Noah Greenwald, director of the endangered species program for the Center for Biological Diversity.
The Tucson, Ariz.-based group petitioned the federal government to list the lizard as an endangered species in 2002, arguing that increased oil and gas activity on public lands in New Mexico had left the species without enough habitat to survive. Ranchers also made the situation worse by using a herbicide spray to remove shinnery oak, which is toxic to cattle.
Fish and Wildlife Service officials agreed to list the lizard in 2004 but did not formally propose it until last December because of a backlog of other animals facing greater peril. A final decision will be made in December.
The proposed listing comes as the oil business is booming. Midland, pop. 111,000, has bucked many of the economic trends gripping the nation – unemployment is less than 5 percent – but high oil prices will do that in a city built on black gold.
Request in Congress
In an attempt to prevent a “disaster” in the heart of the Permian Basin oil patch, four Republican congressmen from Texas and New Mexico urged their House colleagues last month to prevent the listing. The request came as Congress intervened with the endangered species list for the first time, removing wolves in Idaho and Montana from it through a budget bill.
The lawmakers, including West Texas Republicans Michael Conaway, Randy Neugebauer and Francisco Canseco, claim that the Fish and Wildlife Service is moving forward on the listing without regard for legally binding conservation agreements between property owners and the government in New Mexico.
Such voluntary pacts, which commit property owners to protecting habitat, are in the planning stages in Texas.
Preferable alternative
Matthew Thompson, manager of government affairs for Houston-based Apache Corp., said the conservation contracts are preferable to a more rigid federal listing. The company now has about 11,000 wells in the Permian Basin, with plans to add more than 350 this year alone.
“There is no doubt that a listing would impact our drilling program,” he said. “If we can find a way to get these voluntary efforts in place in Texas, then they would go a long way toward conserving habitat.”
The agreements in New Mexico require landowners to take a number of steps, including limits to seismic exploration outside of dunes with shinnery oaks and the removal of caliche pads and roads for wells no longer in use. The agreements, in turn, shield them from liability for the accidental “taking” of a lizard.
But a federal listing would not necessarily interfere with such voluntary efforts, said Patrick Parenteau, a Vermont Law School professor who was special counsel to the Fish and Wildlife Service in the 1990s.
The agency, he said, does not want to fight with the oil and gas industry, but will ask for some changes to accommodate the lizard.
“People don’t like it, and they’ve heard horror stories,” Parenteau said of a federal listing. “But the notion that a listing will bring everything to a screeching halt simply isn’t true.”
Extinction is natures way of weeding out species that can’t adapt. Seems the Goverment is trying to do that to the Energy producers here in our country, Every day seems like they are TRYING to increase our reliance on NON US based supplys and are putting us at he mercy of OPEC!!
So the economic future of our country is being threatened by a lizard? Hate to say it but something is not right here. Isn’t there something else that can be done to ameliorate the situation that is less drastic than placing the lizard on the endangered list and shutting down the oil fields?
What about the “human animal” facing peril over skyrocketing energy costs? Oil drilling sites take up a very small footprint that take up almost zero habitat for most animals, lizards, polar bears, spotted owl, etc. This is more about personal agendas and attacking a specific industry rather than the animals anyway. Drill Here, Drill Now!
No wonder the likes of China, Russia ndia, laugh at us. How ridiculous can this counntry be.
So do we protect the environment, do we protect an endangered species or do we allow the legislates to cave in to the will of big oil? The environment is supposed to come first, but apparently our legislators think big oil should come before everything – it’s time for us to do the right thing here, period.
It has got to where landowners look the other way when they see a strange bird, snake, lizard or other varmit, for the fear of losing free use of their land.
Kill everything… WHO CARES??? just as long as we can drill for oil and gas to sell outside of the US for larger profits. I grew up in those dusty pasture of west Texas around the dwarf mesquites, cat-claws and Shinery. I spent 29 years out there. That part of Texas doesn’t even resemble the Texas it was 29 years ago…. and it din’t just happen on it’s own.
People most often commenting here, would have you stoned to death for killing a dog or a cat… make it a snake, lizard, bird, rodent, coyote, wolf, wild pig, etc, and WATCH OUT!!!! They ain’t necessary in these here parts… who cares if they die off?!?!?!?!?!”, “Kill ‘em all!!! And get them danged polar bears while you’re at it!!” It’s not like it’s gonna change the price manipulation at the pumps anyway.
RELENTLESS!
obama’s assualt on TEXAS’ Economy..
My grandson works for a big oil field pipe line company and they were in east Nevada, Mesquite. there a little turtle is on the endangered species list that was imported there.
They are from the size of a quarter to 10″.
They run over one and the company was fined 500,000.00 and forced to stop all work for 7 full working days. A week later they run over another on during the night time shift and they were fined another 500,000.00 and so the man shut down the job and now my grand son and 285 other workers are out of work.
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Mind you they had 70 full time employees supposedly riding herd/guarding the turtles.
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Theyare still working although they are no digging going on and the gas lines are total shut down so we are getting no use from the pipe lines they had installed.
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If they are placed on the endangered species list the oil patches up there will grind to a halt and a lot more men will be out of work.
West Texas will be like Nevada no digging or creating jobs all because of a little lizard that if the folks wanted to the could round up several dozen and keep them safe while the work goes on and then turn them loose when the jobs are finished.
Frank Bowers, FIC, 100% DAV, Austin, TX
Hey Frank… you have a link to a story about that $500K fine??? Can’t seem to find one that exits. Would certainly love to read about it.
The Eco-facists have found a new way to destroy the economy.
The activists have found a new way to destroy the economy.
Perhaps they could just start planting shinnery oak on well heads. The real issue here is that the ranchers are removing the plant because it is toxic and the lizard has not adapted to other bushes.
humans who don’t want to be good stewards of the world god gave us should be out of work & have their properties seized.
The Idiots that come up with these lists should pay $20 a gallon so that they can show the rest of us that they don’t care what gas costs or how many people are put out of work.By the way no workers = no taxes paid.The dims should take a look at Zimbawe kill the tax base,put everyone out of work,print money faster,soon everyone starves or leaves,they have to import everything,thier money is worthless.Or is that what they are trying to accomplish?
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking legal protection for the lizard because of the dramatic loss of its habitat due to oil and gas activity and cattle grazing.”
Interestingly, no mention of the loss of habitat from the roads and infrastructure needed to build wind turbines in West Texas. I smell a hidden agenda at the EPA and the American people are tired of the games being played by the Democrats. Oil and cattle will be off limits ! Why oh why would a party intentionally try to cripple America ? That’s the real question to ask.
[...] Protection for lizard may threaten West Texas oil production [...]
Nothing about this makes sense. Sure there’s a lot of oil and gas drilling in the Permian Basin, but the overall impact of the pumpjacks and roads on the environment is miniscule. The drilling companies don’t give a flip about shinnery oak. They just want to put a pumpjack out in the middle of nowhere for as little cost as possible. Unnecessarily ripping up hundreds of acres of shinnery oak would be a waste of money.
Since this oak is poisonous to cattle, that’s the more likely reason for loss of habitat. Okay, so plant a bunch of shinnery oak in places where cattle don’t graze. Don’t worry, there is plenty of land that qualifies. The lizards can have their habitat, the cattle can still graze, and we can still drill for oil and gas. Everybody wins.
Those who whine about the evils of (snicker) “Big Oil” and rant about killing all the little animals… tell you what: Turn off your lights and air conditioning. Give away (okay, sell) your cars right now.
You might as well “enjoy” the fruits of your “labors” to kill off an industry and send us back to the dark ages.
YOU PEOPLE won’t let us build safe nuclear power plants, or drill for oil, or produce gas. YOU PEOPLE won’t be happy until we’re either roasting or freezing in the dark while the rest of the world leaves us behind.
Bunch of watermelons you are: Greeeeen on the outside, red on the inside. The Soviet Union won after all, brainwashing the likes of you.