Chipmunk from southeastern New Mexico declared endangered

Dec. 28—Two years after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed protecting a shrinking population of chipmunks native to Southern New Mexico, that protection is coming.

The federal agency earlier this month declared the Peñasco least chipmunk an endangered species and designated almost 4,400 acres of the Lincoln National Forest — all of it on land managed by the U.S. Forest Service — as critical habitat for the racing-striped rodent.

Any federal agency conducting activities in this critical habitat area — mostly in the White Mountain Wilderness in the Lincoln National Forest — must consult with U.S. Fish and Wildlife about potential harms to the endangered chipmunks and how to avoid those harms.

None of the designated critical habitat is on private land or the Mescalero Apache Reservation, and the designation will not impact the operation of Ski Apache, a 75-acre ski resort the tribe operates under a special use permit from the Forest Service, the agency said in a Dec. 9 news release.

The Peñasco least chipmunk, which once lived throughout the Sacramento Mountains and near Ruidoso, is now only found in the White Mountains, and even there, its numbers appear to be shrinking. Although population surveys are "labor-intensive in remote, difficult terrain," Fish and Wildlife documents indicate only a few individuals were observed in surveys between 2000 and 2018.

The isolated population with low numbers make it "extremely vulnerable to extinction," the Forest Service said in the news release. Threats to the small subspecies include habitat degradation, low genetic diversity and feral hogs.

The listing could make more funding available to help the sub-species recover, said Michael Robinson, senior conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity.

"The fact that it's endangered means that people are paying attention," Robinson said. "There's somebody with a responsibility for developing a plan, implementing a plan and making sure it doesn't go extinct."

Not every species listed as endangered or threatened will receive a critical habitat designation. But the ones that do are more likely to progress towards recovery, Robinson said.

"It improves its chances of still being around in 100 years by a huge amount," Robinson said.