The number of animals and plants listed under the Endangered Species Actis starting to grow after a years-long lull –– with rising temperatures and the destruction of habitats to blame.
Now, environmental groups are trying to get threatened species listed before it’s too late, but they face a slow bureaucratic process.
The Endangered Species Act was passed by Congress in the 1970s with a vision to conserve the nation’s natural resources and environment.
Here in New Mexico, several species have a chance atlanding on the list.
For example, there’s thePecos pupfish and the Penasco least chipmunk, both of which have been stuck in a sort of bureaucratic purgatory for decades.
That, and the process overall is shockingly slow.
Tierra Curry is a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity. She said the Service is supposed to determine if species warrant protection within two years of receiving a legal petition, but the average wait is about12 years.
“We’re really risking the collapse of natural systems and so we can’t just go on with business as usual and think that protecting the environment is a side gig,” Curry said.
Curry said the center is making headway with a recent settlement in court on Monday that gives 24 species protection by the end of the year, following a lawsuit by the nonprofit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Meanwhile,House Republicans voted Wednesday to strip Endangered Species Act protections from the lesser prairie-chicken and northern long-eared bat in the name ofinfrastructure investments. President Biden has said he will veto those measures.
