For immediate release
June 4, 2025
Contacts:
- Maggie Fusari, Tucson Herpetological Society, tucsonherps@gmail.com, and Desert Tortoise Council, info@deserttortoise.org
- Cyndi Tuell, Western Watersheds Project, 520-272-2454, cyndi@westernwatersheds.org
- Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians, 505-395-6177, csmith@wildearthguardians.org
- David Woodsmall, Western Environmental Law Center, 971-285-3632, woodsmall@westernlaw.org
Wildlife groups’ legal challenge: Feds hanging imperiled Sonoran desert tortoise out to dry
TUCSON, Ariz.—Today, wildlife advocates challenged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) in federal court for denying Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for the Sonoran desert tortoise in 2022. The Desert Tortoise Council, Tucson Herpetological Society, Western Watersheds Project, and WildEarth Guardians, represented by the Western Environmental Law Center, are challenging the Service’s decision because the agency failed to consider the best available science, relied on flawed habitat and population models, and contradicted findings from 2010 through 2014 that the tortoise needed ESA protection.
“The long-term survival of the Sonoran desert tortoise is severely threatened by ever-increasing losses of habitat due to development and other unmitigated uses, and by ever-increasing drought due to climate change,” said Maggie Fusari, representative of both the Tucson Herpetological Society and the Desert Tortoise Council. “We believe this decline must be stopped by conscious actions such as providing federal protection to the Sonoran desert tortoise.”
In 2019, WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds, represented by Western Environmental Law Center, challenged the Service for failing to consider science on climate change and livestock grazing, among other factors, when refusing to list the species. The Service agreed to reconsider. In 2022, the Service used flawed population and habitat models to determine the species is not at risk.
“We’ve given the government every opportunity to fix the problems we identified in their decision,” said Cyndi Tuell, the Arizona and New Mexico director for Western Watersheds Project. “The agency’s refusal to recognize the dramatic decline in tortoise populations and the lack of juvenile recruitment, as well as its choice to ignore the increasing threats to the tortoises and their habitat from activities like livestock grazing is the definition of an arbitrary and capricious decision. We cannot allow the Service to doom the tortoise to extinction and so once again, we are back in court.”
“The Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to deny protections to the imperiled Sonoran desert tortoise was flawed from the start because it was based on a purely speculative and overly optimistic population estimate,” said David Woodsmall, attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center representing the groups. “The agency also severely downplayed likely future effects to the tortoise from increased drought frequency and severity. We are disappointed to have to bring this case, but the agency simply refuses to follow the best available science as required by law.”
“The Sonoran desert tortoise is being seriously impacted by the climate crisis and habitat damage from livestock grazing. It is desperately in need of protection and a path to recovery,” said Chris Smith, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians. “We have an ethical responsibility to stop driving species to extinction, period. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should uphold its mission and the values of the public in protecting this amazing desert dweller.”
The complaint asks the court to set aside the agency’s decision and ensure compliance with the ESA.
The Sonoran desert tortoise is a distinct species of desert tortoise, separate from the Mojave desert tortoise. Sonoran desert tortoises are found in desert scrub habitats in Arizona and Mexico, east and south of the Colorado River. In 2010, in response to a petition from the groups to list the species under the ESA, the Service found it “warranted” for listing but placed it on the candidate list, without protections, due to “higher priorities.” In 2015, the Service reversed its decision and determined the species “not warranted” for listing based mainly on a candidate conservation agreement that does not include binding commitments from the parties involved to take conservation actions, or any regulatory requirements to conserve the tortoise.
The long-term survival of the Sonoran Desert Tortoise (Gopherus morafkai), in its natural habitat, is of central importance to both the Desert Tortoise Council and the Tucson Herpetological Society. For the Tucson-based herpetological group, promoting conservation of the reptiles and amphibians of their region is at the center of their efforts at outreach, education, as well as funding local field research. For the Desert Tortoise Council, the conservation of the species of desert tortoise has been central to their missions for 50 years.
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WildEarth Guardians (www.wildearthguardians.org) is a conservation non-profit whose mission is to protect and restore the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West. Guardians has offices in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, and over 231,000 members and supporters worldwide.
The mission of Western Watersheds Project (www.westernwatersheds.org) is to protect and restore western watersheds and wildlife through education, public policy initiatives, and legal advocacy.
The Desert Tortoise Council (deserttortoise.org) was established in 1975 to promote conservation of the desert tortoise in the deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico.
The Tucson Herpetological Society (tucsonherpsociety.org) was established in 1988 and is dedicated to conservation, education, and research concerning the amphibians and reptiles of Arizona and Mexico.
The Western Environmental Law Center (westernlaw.org) uses the power of the law to foster thriving, resilient western U.S. lands, waters, wildlife, and communities in the face of a changing climate.
