Tucson-based group sues US for failing to list Arizona snail as endangered

Legal papers filed in federal court say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has so far taken more than 10 years to consider the status of the Quitobaquito tryonia, also known as the desert springsnail. In that delay, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, the snail "has continued to suffer significant loss of habitat and population decline.''

The lawsuit asks a judge to set a date by which the agency has to list the species as endangered.

There was no immediate response from the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Russ McSpadden, the Center for Biological Diversity's southwest conservation advocate, conceded that a win in court will not necessarily protect the snail — particularly from destruction of its habitat he says is being caused by construction of a border wall through the monument.

That's because Congress has given federal agencies broad powers to exempt themselves from any and all environmental regulations related to border wall construction. That means even if the snail is listed as endangered, it would not necessarily stop the second wall going up.

"Sadly, what we're relying on at this point is the moral fortitude of (Interior Secretary) Doug Burgum and (Homeland Security Secretary) Markwayne Mullin to find a workaround the Quitobaquito,'' McSpadden said. The Interior Department has purview over the Fish and Wildlife Service, and Homeland Security has control over border wall construction.

Still, McSpadden said his organization believes it is necessary to get the endangered status for the snail.

The danger to the freshwater snail, according to the lawsuit, predates border wall construction.

"Diversion of surface water, drought, groundwater pumping for agriculture, and climate change had led to a decline in spring discharge at Quitobaquito springs, and a loss of much of the aquatic vegetation and habitat that the species requires,'' the legal papers state.

The lawyers say that is now compounded by the drilling of wells and pumping of millions of gallons of water near the springs for border wall construction.

There has been some movement, with the lawsuit saying Fish and Wildlife came up with a proposed rule in 2023 to list the snail as endangered and designate nearly 6,100 square feet as critical habitat. But there has been no further action, while McSpadden says that habitat faces threats from construction of the second border wall.

"Federal officials are stalling while one of North America's rarest animals inches toward extinction,'' he said.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, and a 2005 amendment, give the Homeland Security secretary pretty much unrestrained discretion to bypass various laws, including several environmental regulations, to build border barriers.

The Center for Biological Diversity contends federal agencies' authority to ignore environmental laws is itself illegal, McSpadden said. Along with other groups, the center has gone to federal court in Texas trying to stop border wall construction along the Big Bend region of the Rio Grande River.

That lawsuit, still pending, asks a judge to declare the federal law grants no individual or agency the authority to waive laws across the entirety of the U.S-Mexico border. If that argument doesn't work, the Texas lawsuit seeks a declaration that if Congress actually has granted that authority to the executive branch, it is "an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power.''

The Center for Biological Diversity and CATalyst, another environmental group, used similar claims in a bid to halt construction of a 27-mile border wall in the grasslands of the San Rafael Valley south of Tucson. That claim was rejected by U.S. District Court Judge Angela Martinez, who said the waiver authority was legal.

Not just the snail is at issue in the latest construction in Organ Pipe National Monument. The area also supports the endangered Quitobaquito pupfish and the Sonoyta mud turtle. As the Arizona Daily Star reported Sunday, wildlife agencies, zoo officials and species recovery experts are rushing to implement emergency salvage plans for all three species as the border wall construction threatens the pond and  springs that support them.