HUNDREDS EXPECTED TO JOIN PEARCE AT ROSWELL RALLY ON LIZARD

Roswell, NM (April 20, 2011) Congressman Steve Pearce will attend a rally in Roswell, New Mexico, to oppose the listing of the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species.  The rally will be held on Thursday, April 28th at 5:00 at the Great Southwest Aviation Airport Hangar. Hundreds of New Mexicans are expected to attend the event.

In recent weeks, Congressman Pearce has heard from an overwhelming number of constituents who oppose the listing, which threatens to kill an overwhelming number of oil and gas jobs in southeastern New Mexico.  Congressman Pearce recently discussed the issue with a full room at a town hall meeting in Carlsbad.  Approximately 200 people attended last night’s “warm-up rally” in Artesia.

The Roswell rally will immediately precede the public hearing held by Fish and Wildlife at the ENMU Performing Arts Center at 6:30.

The BLM, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and private entities, including the oil and gas industry, have been working together on the issue of protecting the Sand Dune Lizard.  Despite these efforts, the Fish and Wildlife Service began working to list the lizard as endangered, an announcement that came just before Christmas of last year.  Listing the species has the potential to jeopardize nearly all the oil and gas jobs in Southeast New Mexico.  The same listing may jeopardize future development of the Nuclear Enrichment Facility near Eunice.  

Locals have spoken out over the proposed listing.  Kyla Taylor, a native of Artesia who attends New Mexico State University, contacted Rep. Pearce to voice her concerns.  She and her father plan to start a local herbicide business, but she fears that if the lizard is listed as endangered, her dreams may become impossible.  Furthermore, she explains, her grandmother’s job at the Navajo Refining Company will probably disappear as a result of the listing, along with the jobs of her friends and neighbors.  “My hometown of Artesia and its economy depend heavily on Navajo and the other oil companies in the surrounding area,” said Taylor.  “The federal government is placing more importance on the well-being of a lizard than on the livelihood of its hard working New Mexican citizens.”

Pearce is speaking out on behalf of constituents like Taylor.  “Most of the oil and gas jobs in southeast New Mexico are at risk” said Pearce.  “In the 90’s, they listed the spotted owl and it killed the entire timber industry.  Irresponsible, unbalanced overregulation limits the amount of energy produced, which kills jobs, causes severe budget problems in the state, and increases costs to citizens.  In this time of high unemployment, we can, and must, do better.”

Congressman Pearce is an avid outdoorsman, and believes that conservation is extremely important.  However, he believes that wise environmental regulation can—and must—be implemented without sacrificing a single job.  He recently introduced legislation to restore jobs destroyed by reckless regulation in New Mexico’s timber industry, and is committed to preserving the rights of Americans to earn a living and support their families.

For more information about the rally, telephone 1-855-4-PEARCE, (1-855-473-2723), or visit www.pearce.house.gov.

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Update: The Mexican Spotted Owl was listed in 1993.  In the 1970s and 1980s, the timber industry in southern New Mexico flourished.  Immediately after the listing, in 1994, timber production in the Lincoln National Forest fell to 7% of what it had been in 1986.