A radical environmental advocacy group with a long track record of using the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as a litigation weapon is once again targeting New Mexico’s water, energy, and agricultural sectors—this time over a freshwater turtle.
According to Source New Mexico, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a federal lawsuit on Jan. 8 against the Trump administration, arguing that federal officials failed to list the Rio Grande cooter as an endangered or threatened species. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges a 2022 determination by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the turtle did not warrant ESA protection.
The Rio Grande cooter is a freshwater turtle found in portions of the Pecos and Rio Grande river basins in New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. In its complaint, the Center alleges that federal officials ignored “mounting evidence” and acted unlawfully by declining to list the species under the ESA, a decision that—if reversed—could unlock sweeping federal authority over water use, land management, and energy development across large swaths of the Southwest.
In a statement provided to Source New Mexico, Center attorney Camila Cossío accused federal officials of failing to protect what she described as an “irreplaceable” species. She claimed the turtle is threatened by “climate change,” oil and gas activity, and water usage, arguing that ESA protections could “save them” through federal conservation and breeding programs.
But critics argue that the Center’s lawsuit follows a familiar and controversial playbook: identify a species with a limited range, demand ESA protections, and then leverage federal law to restrict farming, ranching, water rights, and energy production—often regardless of local economic consequences.
The Center itself openly acknowledges that its strategy relies on aggressive litigation. Its complaint alleges that oil and gas development in the Permian Basin, dam construction, irrigation, and groundwater use are key threats to the turtle. If the group succeeds, ESA protections could be used to challenge water deliveries to farmers, impose new permitting hurdles on energy producers, and further constrain already scarce water resources in southeastern New Mexico.
According to Source New Mexico, Cossío also claimed in a phone interview that the turtle’s slow maturation rate makes population declines harder to detect, while pointing to pollution and climate impacts as justification for federal intervention. She further cited federal data showing an increase in the international export of the turtles—from roughly 20 in 2016 to more than 350 by 2020—arguing that even limited collection has ripple effects across generations.
The lawsuit goes well beyond export concerns. The Center argues that federal regulators underestimated climate change impacts, failed to account for potential feminization of turtle eggs due to temperature changes, and improperly downplayed habitat fragmentation and salinity increases in the Pecos River—many of which the group links directly to energy development and water use.
For New Mexicans, the implications are familiar and troubling. Past ESA-driven lawsuits have resulted in reduced grazing access, curtailed water deliveries, delayed infrastructure projects, and increased regulatory uncertainty—often hitting rural communities the hardest. Farmers, ranchers, and small energy operators have repeatedly warned that such lawsuits prioritize ideological environmental goals over human livelihoods and local economic stability.
As the case moves forward, it is likely to reignite a broader debate over whether the ESA is being used as Congress intended—or as a blunt instrument by well-funded activist groups seeking to impose sweeping environmental controls through the courts rather than the legislative process.