Three tiny secretive reptiles found only in South Florida's sandy beach dunes or pine rockland forests were added to the nation's endangered species list on Monday, following a decade-long struggle to better protect them from over-development and sea rise.
All three — the Keys mole skink, rim rock crown snake and Key ring-necked snake — can now only be found in parts of the Keys or Miami-Dade County.
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"It's taken years, with a lot of heel-dragging from the government," said Ragan Whitlock, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, which first petitioned to have the animals listed in 2010 and 2012. "These species represent millions of years of unique evolutionary history. They're only found in Florida, where habitat loss is pushing them to the brink of extinction. And unfortunately, once they're gone, they are gone forever."
The listings under the Endangered Species Act follow a February settlement reached by the center, which was represented by the Jacobs Public Interest Law Clinic at Stetson University, and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to make a final determination by July 16.
Federal wildlife managers have long said they weren't ignoring the animals as they struggled to work down a list of hundreds of animals needing protection.
But under the Trump administration, that job has gotten harder. FWS staff has been cut by nearly 20%, according to records obtained by the center. The administration has also weakened rules for protecting plants and animals. It made economic impacts a factor in determining critical habitat to protect species; tossed a rule that automatically gave comprehensive protections to newly listed species; and this month announced it would no longer consider damage to a species' habitat as potential harm that could cause its extinction.
In a statement, FWS said Monday's listings reflect the agency's commitment to protecting species with the best available science.
"Florida's natural heritage and its vibrant economy are deeply connected," said Mike Oetker, the service's southeast regional director Mike Oetker. "By using the best available science and working hand-in-hand with our local partners, we can protect imperiled wildlife while still encouraging responsible development and industry."
But Whitlock said the service's failure to designate critical habitat in finalizing the listing for the three reptiles means they remain vulnerable.
" It is common sense that species cannot recover and get off the endangered species list if we protect it on paper, but fail to protect the places that they live," he said.
The Keys mole skink has been found on just 15 islands in the Keys in the last two decades. Half of those were confirmed before 1999. The shiny lizard grows to just five inches and burrows into the ground, making it difficult to detect despite its bright orange and red tail. It prefers low-lying islands with sandy beaches: areas hit hardest by sea rise and increasingly more powerful hurricane storm surges.
The two small snakes, each just about 10 inches long, live on the rocky bottom in pine rockland forests, where crevices provide water and damp places to hide. The rim rock snake lays eggs just twice a year and in small clutches of just two to three eggs, compared to invasive pythons that can have clutches sometimes topping 100.
Historically, the black-headed grayish-brown snake was found in Big Pine and Key West in the Lower Keys, parts of the Upper Keys, and pine rockland at the southern end of the mainland. Because it is so hard to find, wildlife officials said they were unable to come up with a contemporary estimate of its range. They also said they found no evidence that the snakes might be swimming between islands in the Keys, which might help it survive impacts from storms or sea rise.
Little is also known about the tiny Key ringed-neck snake, wildlife officials said. They have only been documented on seven islands in the Lower Keys, between Key West and No Name Key. But no recent surveys have been done, officials said.
Whitlock, the Center for Biological Diversity attorney, worries cuts to staff have hampered much of the scientific work needed to property protect species.
"There's been apathy at every level for protecting species for decades, but we are currently in the midst of an unprecedented attack on imperiled species," he said. "That's why there are situations like this where we must go to court and… force the government to fulfill its obligations under the Endangered Species Act."
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