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A BIG threat to a tiny lizard... TAKE ACTION.

Jamie Rappaport Calrk, Defenders of Wildlife

Oil development and offroad vehicle use could spell disaster for a tiny lizard that makes its home in New Mexico and Texas… and further weaken one of America’s bedrock conservation laws.

Visit We the People, the White House’s new petition site, to speak out for the dunes sagebrush lizard, an incredibly rare and important species at risk of extinction.

Note: You will need to create a Whitehouse.gov account to sign this petition.

What’s at stake: the rare dunes sagebrush lizard has the second-smallest range of any North American lizard. It lives only in a small sliver of southeast New Mexico and western Texas on sand dunes covered by shinnery oak.

In New Mexico, at least 40 percent of the dunes sagebrush lizard habitat has been lost since 1982. In Texas, it is no longer found in 86 percent of its range.

To defend this tiny lizard, Defenders of Wildlife has launched a BIG new petition on the White House’s We the People petition site. But we only have 30 days to get 25,000 signatures… and a response from the White House.

Patrick, will you help?

Take action now at whitehouse.gov/wethepeople.

The dunes sagebrush lizard has been a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act for 10 years and is in desperate need of protection. The Fish and Wildlife Service has assigned the second highest listing priority number to the dunes sagebrush lizard – 2 out of 12 – meaning it faces severe and immediate threats.

The major threat is destruction of its shinnery oak habitat by oil and gas development, habitat destroying herbicide and off-road vehicle use.

A small, but vocal contingent is opposing protections for this special creature. Opponents say that listing a species under the Endangered Species Act would harm local economies. But in reality, But in reality, the habitat used by the lizard is only a small part of the vast area available for oil and gas development and the Endangered Species Act is one of America’s most flexible environmental laws.

In fact, the Endangered Species Act provides many exceptions and alternatives that allow economic growth while continuing to protect America’s wildlife heritage.

This is just another special interest attempt to undermine the Endangered Species Act. Oil and gas companies, pesticide manufacturers, developers and other special interests are pulling their levers in Congress and trying everything they can to weaken the safety net that prevents the extinction of wildlife, fish and plants.

Denying protection to individual species based on exaggeration and political considerations – as proposed by opponents of protections for the dunes sagebrush lizard – rather than decision-making based on the fundamental scientific principles that have served our nation so well for decades violates the very spirit and purpose of the Endangered Species Act and threatens the future of some of America’s most treasured wildlife.

Don’t let them get away with selling out our natural treasures. Please take action now.

With Gratitude,