Lawsuit filed to protect endangered snail from Arizona-Mexico border wall

An environmental group is taking legal action against the Trump administration, claiming a second U.S.-Mexico border wall could wipe out a rare desert snail species found only in a single Arizona spring.

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to force federal officials to finalize Endangered Species Act protections for the Quitobaquito tryonia. The tiny springsnail, which is roughly the size of a poppy seed, lives exclusively within Quitobaquito Springs inside Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument along the Arizona border.

According to the Center, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined in 2023 that the snail deserved an endangered listing but missed its legal deadline to finalize the protection.

“Federal officials are stalling while one of North America’s rarest animals inches toward extinction,” Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center, said in a statement. “The Quitobaquito tryonia lives in a tiny ribbon of desert water that could be destroyed for the useless political theatre of Trump’s second border wall.”

The lawsuit comes as contractors prepare to build a second border wall approximately 100 feet north of the existing barrier. Environmentalists warn the planned path runs directly through the fragile wetland area, which could disrupt the spring’s hydrologic functions and water retention.

The entire habitat for the snail, a freshwater spring flowing into a pond, is only about one-third the size of a soccer field.

The spring also holds deep cultural significance for the Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham and Tohono O’odham people. Additionally, the waters support two other federally protected species: the endangered Quitobaquito pupfish and the Sonoyta mud turtle.

Wildlife agencies, zoo officials and species recovery experts are currently working on emergency salvage plans for all three species out of fear that the heavy construction could permanently dry up or destroy the pond.

“The fact that scientists are being forced to plan emergency salvage for species found nowhere else on Earth shows how reckless border wall projects have become,” McSpadden said.

The legal battle follows recent controversy just 30 miles west of the springs at the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. Weeks ago, border wall contractors scraped a construction corridor directly through the ancient Las Playas Intaglio, a 1,000-year-old geoglyph sacred to local Native American tribes.

Advocates say that incident should serve as a warning for what could happen to Quitobaquito Springs if federal environmental and cultural protection laws continue to be bypassed for wall construction.

The lawsuit seeks a court order compelling the Fish and Wildlife Service to issue its protection for the springsnail.

Related

Arizona wetlands restoration to support endangered frogs, other wildlifeYoung animals rarely abandoned by parents, officials warn people to leave them aloneArizona wildlife officials warn that rising temperatures could rouse rattlesnakesFBI investigating shooting at ICE field office in PhoenixUS Marshals rescue missing Arizona girl; 2 suspects taken into ICE custodyRep. Greg Stanton calls DHS warehouse purchases ‘a joke’ amid Surprise ICE facility pause