Milkweed Turns Political, Texas Attorney General Sends Letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife
A native plant species in Texas, the prostrate milkweed, received proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to be designated as an endangered species. This would designate 691 acres in two counties along the Texas border as a ‘critical habitat,’ according to a FWS press release.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a comment letter to the FWS under the Biden Administration regarding this proposed rule.
“Texas values the protection of native plant and animal species, but this determination would further destabilize Texas’s border, hindering the construction of the border wall,” said Paxton's news release.
Paxton’s letter explains the federal government, through environmental impact analyses, has already determined the species to not be at risk, should the border enforcement activities continue.
“Yet these environmental studies are seemingly being ignored by FWS, and now without clear reasoning or supportive data, the impact of border enforcement activities or a border wall are said to be potential threats of “high magnitude” to the prostrate milkweed,” said the letter.
Meanwhile, the FWS press release stated, “This listing and critical habitat proposal is based on the best available science, including a species status assessment that included input and review from academia and state agencies.”
The FWS assessment reports, “The species has never been abundant in available survey data. Of the 24 extant populations of prostrate milkweed that remain in Texas and Mexico, 19 (79%) are estimated to be in low current conditions.” In addition, the report explains the species’ stressors to include non-native grasses, such as buffelgrass, right-of-way maintenance in mowing and land conversion.
Paxton’s letter also considers the impacts of local ranchers. “The economic cost to ranchers due to illegal alien traffic through their properties has also been substantial. Ranch owners in the nearby area cite costs in the tens of thousands of dollars to repair cut fences and gates destroyed by human smugglers transporting undocumented persons through their ranches.”
