Texas Comptroller submits draft conservation agreement
Texas Comptroller Susan Combs has sent a draft conservation agreement to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the event that the dunes sagebrush lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus) is listed as an Endangered Species, according to an article in MyWestTexas.com. The decision to list the lizard is scheduled to occur in December 2011.
Photo by USFWS
A decision on whether to list the dunes sagebrush lizard as an Endangered Species is expected at the end of 2011.
As part of the proposed plan, property owners would sign certificates of inclusion in candidate conservation agreements, enabling them to manage their property in an effort to maintain habitat for the lizard. Measures in the plan would also limit seismic surveying by the oil and gas industry to those areas not considered sagebrush lizard habitat, and would maximize the use of developed areas and rights of ways for the building of roads, power lines, pipelines, and other oil and gas infrastructure.
The plan would also limit the installation of oil lines to times when the lizard is in a period of inactivity, which is October through March. It also calls for the cleaning and managing of abandoned sites, including drilling locations, roads, and other oil and gas infrastructure to minimize the effects to the environment. The next step is for the draft conservation agreement to be published in the Federal Register, where it will then be open to comment for 60 days.
For more information on the proposed listing of the dunes sagebrush lizard, click here
