What was considered a single threatened cactus species in northeastern Utah and western Colorado is now officially three cacti species, all threatened, according to a ruling Tuesday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Threats are posed by the oil and gas development that is burgeoning in the area, according to the service. But advocates say illegal collecting and off-highway vehicle abuse also contribute to the threats.

Wildlife service officials said that one of the three species, the Pariette cactus, warrants listing as endangered — a designation that affords a slightly higher level of protection than threatened. But the agency added that listing the cactus species as endangered is "precluded by the need to complete other listing actions of a higher priority."

In other words, the agency considers other cases more pressing and won't complete the paperwork needed to designate the Pariette cactus as endangered at this time.

The three species were once thought of as one type of plant, but DNA work shows they are separate species, says Tony Frates, rare plant coordinator for the Utah Native Plant Society in Salt Lake City. Besides the Pariette cactus, the other species designated as threatened are the Colorado hookless cactus and Uinta Basin hookless cactus. The cacti have brilliant pink, purple, yellow or white flowers.

"By separating them into three (species), that means all three are even rarer than they were when they were listed as one," Frates said in an interview.

Within the last year or so, he added, someone went to the region "and dug up a lot of plants." That amounts to a huge disruption, he said.

Protecting the plants could mean more careful work is needed in citing oil rigs or monitoring roads, he added, but he does not know of any rare plant designation that has ever stopped a project. Instead, more care will be required in project work, Frates believes.

"With the huge amount of energy development in the Uintah Basin, obviously the situation has become grave for these species."

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