The Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday it will assess whether the threatened Sonora chub requires a larger critical habitat, but the small Arizona fish will have to wait for its moment in the sun.
Prompted by a petition and the threat of litigation, the federal agency announced it will consider revising the chub’s designated critical habitat as part of the next status review of the species that environmentalists warn is put at risk by border wall construction and livestock grazing. The FWS said this review is scheduled for “as soon as fiscal year 2027, as resources allow.”
“The petition presents several arguments asserting that revision of critical habitat for Sonora chub may be essential for the conservation of the species,” the FWS acknowledged.
In particular, the petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity urged the addition of an area in the Coronado National Forest called California Gulch to the Sonora chub’s designated critical habitat.
