Federal officials have signed off on a plan to protect two lizards found only in the U.S. Virgin Islands and two more lizards in Puerto Rico. Proposed rules for three other lizards were deemed unnecessary because they appear to be extinct.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Martha Williams proposed regulations Dec. 19 that would add the Puerto Rican skink, the lesser Virgin Islands skink, and the Virgin Islands bronze skink to the endangered species list. The proposed regulation, published in the Federal Register, would also list the Culebra skink as a critically threatened species.
The proposed rules are a long-awaited win for activists at the Center for Biological Diversity and elsewhere who have pushed for protections for Caribbean skinks since they were first recognized as potentially threatened in 2012 and separate species from other lizards.
The Center for Biological Diversity launched a petition in 2014 to protect the skinks and five others, then filed suit in 2016 demanding decisions be made on seven species by Dec. 12, 2024.
Elise Bennett, the Florida and Caribbean director at the Tucson, Arizona-based nonprofit, said climate change, nonnative predators, and habitat destruction put all wildlife at risk, especially rare species.
“I’m relieved that these lustrous lizards will finally get the safeguards they need, but it’s tragic that three other skinks went extinct waiting for protection,” Bennett said in a written statement.
Caribbean skinks, which can grow to be about eight inches long, are unique among reptiles in having reproductive systems similar to that of humans, including a placenta and live birth. They have cylindrical bodies and most have ill-defined necks that, together with their sinuous movements and smooth, bronze-colored skin, make them look like stubby snakes with legs, according to the statement.
The Virgin Islands bronze skink (Spondylurus sloanii) can only be found on parts of Water Island, Buck Island just south of St. Thomas — not the Buck Island just north of St. Croix — and tiny Turtledove Cay, also known as Little Saba, southwest of Cyril E. King Airport.
While Water Island has public and private ownership, both Buck Island and Turtledove Cay are bird nesting areas wholly owned by government entities. Buck Island, two miles south of Bolongo Bay, has been a National Wildlife Refuge since 1969, with a U.S. Coast Guard-maintained 39-foot concrete and steel lighthouse as its only structure. The bronze skink lives in its rugged rocks, leaves, and scrub brush.
Hans Lollik is thought to be the only place in the United States to find the lesser Virgin Islands skink (Spondylurus semitaeniatus), although it might also live in the British Virgin Islands. The proposed rules would designate the entire nearly 500-acre island as a protected habitat for the small, distinctive skink.
Hans Lollik is thought to be controlled by an LLC owned by Google cofounder Larry Page. Decades of rumored development on the island have been vigorously opposed by Virgin Islanders who regularly camp there and environmentalists who fear a mainland billionaire might bowl over local building regulations and endangered species — much like Jeffery Epstein was said to have done on Little St. James. Epstein’s sprawling and un-permitted development of the island may have destroyed critical habitat for the lesser Virgin Islands skink.
In Puerto Rico, approximately 5,648 acres in five areas of Puerto Rico and Culebra Island would be set aside as critical habitat for the Culebra skink. About 143,947 acres in five areas of Puerto Rico and Desecheo Island would be set aside as critical habitat for the Puerto Rican skink.
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy released a report saying the proposed critical habitat designation will not have a significant economic impact.
Public comments on the proposed rule are being accepted until Feb. 18, 2025. Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS–R4–ES–2024–0154, which is the docket number for this rulemaking. Then, click on the Search button. On the resulting page, in the panel on the left side of the screen, under the Document Type heading, check the Proposed Rule box to locate this document. You may submit a comment by clicking on “Comment.”
By hard copy, submit by U.S. mail to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS–R4–ES–2024–0154, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041–3803.
