U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service

If successful, delisting would shift management back to the states of New Mexico and Arizona, potentially create “opportunities” for lobo hunting and trapping, and halt genetic diversification efforts.

Late last month, the Trump administration proposed to roll back specific Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulations that would, among other changes, severely limit the designation of critical habitat for species on the path to extinction – including the genetically vulnerable Mexican gray wolf.

Last month, the lesser prairie chicken lost its federal protections after a yearslong legal battle between conservationists and the oil and gas industry. KUNM sat down with the Permian Basin Petroleum Association’s Michael Lozano to talk about why producers oppose formal protections for other endangered species – such as the dune sagebrush lizard.

Last week, a Texas judge decided to vacate a decision to list the lesser prairie chicken on the Endangered Species List, leaving conservationists worried about the precedent this could set for other at-risk species in the Permian.

It's been more than a month since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service missed its own deadline to release a well-known endangered Mexican gray wolf and her family back into the wild after she was caught wandering well beyond the species’ recovery area twice in New Mexico.

A federal judge is set to make a decision in a landmark lawsuit that could reshape the future management of the Mexican gray wolf.

Environmentalists are now threatening to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) after significant bureaucratic delays in determining whether the Pinyon Jay deserves increased habitat protections.

The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are at the center of a lawsuit put forward by several conservation groups accusing the federal government of failing to protect endangered species on the Valles Caldera Preserve.

In northern New Mexico, a recent release of water to help endangered fish is also breaking ground on a model partnership. It’s part of a landmark agreement between the state and the Jicarilla Apache Nation to lease water for the San Juan River.

The number of animals and plants listed under the Endangered Species Act is 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.