ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A federal judge has dealt a blow to environmentalists who have been pushing for endangered species protections for a lizard found in New Mexico and West Texas.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras in Washington, D.C., ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted lawfully when it decided in 2012 not to list the dunes sagebrush lizard.