ORBA - flat-tailed horned lizard

Refer:

Sandy Vissman, Carlsbad, California - 760/431-9440
Susan Saul, Portland, Oregon - 503/231-6121
July 15, 1997
FLAT-TAILED HORNED LIZARD DOES NOT NEED ESA PROTECTION; FEDERAL AGENCIES JOIN FORCES TO PROTECT RARE DESERT REPTILE
The flat-tailed horned lizard, a small iguana-like reptile, whose natural camouflage helps it survive in desert terrain in southern California, Arizona, and Mexico, will not be added to the Federal endangered species list, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today.

Based on new information on populations, reduction of some threats, and re-examination of existing data, the Service has determined that, although threats to the lizard still exist, sufficient habitat is available to warrant the flat-tailed horned lizard's withdrawal as a proposed threatened species.

In June 1997, Federal and state agencies in California and Arizona signed a flat-tailed horned lizard conservation agreement to implement a rangewide management strategy for the species. This strategy, developed over a 2-year period by an interagency working group, established management areas for the lizard's conservation -- a total of 430,700 acres, about 35 percent of its remaining habitat.

Joining in this agreement with the Service are the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. navy, Arizona Game and Fish Department, and California Department of Parks and Recreation. These agencies are committed to conservation measures including on-going monitoring of lizard populations and new surface disturbances within the lizard management areas.

Other measures in the conservation agreement include: minimizing surface disturbance projects to a level of one percent of the management area over 5 years; collecting compensation fees; prohibiting off-highway competitive events; supporting continuing lizard monitoring and research; and attempting to acquire all private inholdings. The BLM has already designated flat-tailed horned lizard management areas on lands under its jurisdiction in California.

The flat-tailed horned lizard inhabits portions of the Colorado desert in the Coachella Valley in Riverside County, in Imperial County in California, and in Yuma County, Arizona, west of the Gila and Tinajas Altas Mountains. It is also found in areas of Sonora and Baja California, Mexico.

Shortly after the reptile was proposed for threatened status in 1993, scientists questioned the number of remaining lizard populations and what methodology to use in determining what constituted a viable lizard population. Furthermore, a variety of threats facing the lizard have been reduced in portions of its range, including expiration of oil and gas leases in its range, declining geothermal power development, and prohibitions on aerial insect spraying.

While some populations of the lizard are still in decline because of habitat loss or modification, about 1.3 million acres of lizard habitat exist in the United States, much of it on public land, which are not subject to the level of development pressure found on private property. The Service will continue to monitor the status of the animal and work with involved interests for its conservation.

A complete description of the withdrawal of the proposal to list the flat-tailed horned lizard was published in the Federal Register on July 15, 1997.

For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, visit our home page at www.fws.gov

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