The Pinyon Jay has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because of extensive conversion of pinyon-juniper habitat to grazing land. (Photo via Getty Images)
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.
Here in New Mexico, the Pinyon Jay plays a vital ecological and cultural role for the state’s official tree: the Piñon Pine.
Bryan Bird focuses on species conservation with the ecological organization Defenders of Wildlife, which plans to sue FWS. He said the Pinyon Jay is a pillar in New Mexico’s aging piñon-juniper forests.
“The Pinyon Jay is a little bit like a canary in a coal mine for our delicate Southwestern environments,” Bird said.
As it turns out, Pinyon Jays are intimately connected to the trees’ survival – dispersing their seeds and surprisingly, creating habitat for other birds such as the Western Bluebird.
In 2022, the organization petitioned Deb Haaland, the Secretary of the Interior, to put the species on an ever-growing list of threatened wildlife under the Endangered Species Act.
Under that law, the government has 12 months to research the petition and issue an official finding – determining if “endangered” or “threatened” protections are needed.
Now, just over two years later, this is where advocates believe the law has been broken.
“We humans and our persistence and our future is tied directly to these animals,” Bird said. “If we do not take care of this now, then we’re in trouble as well.”
In fact, researchers have observed long-term declines in the Pinyon Jay’s population since the late 1960s. They say it’s the fastest declining landbird in the West, with an estimated 80% population decrease over the past half-century.
Normally, litigation surrounding procedural timelines result in a speedier process for the species – compelling the agency to act swiftly to meet conservation needs.
It’s no secret that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is vastly understaffed and underfunded. This lack of resources and manpower has created a “workbook” that aims to prioritize certain species based on urgency and threat levels over others. Non-profit conservation policy analysts say this leads to a dangerous situation where important species may be deprioritized, despite their critical status.
In a letter penned in March 2023, over 120 environmental groups asked Congress to properly fund the agency. They estimate FWS needs at least $66 million to process a backlog of several hundred species petitions. Around 35 species are expected to have official findings by FY25.
When asked to comment on the potential litigation, multiple U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokespeople declined to speak to KUNM.