ALBUQUERQUE — Some 1,305 acres of New Mexico and West Texas are now considered critical habitat for the Pecos sunflower, a native plant listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the designation Tuesday for land located in Chaves, Cibola and Guadalupe counties in New Mexico and Pecos County in Texas.

The showy Pecos sunflower, protected under the Endangered Species Act since 1999, is known to survive in fewer than two dozen locations in the limited habitat of the desert wetlands of New Mexico and West Texas on federal, state and private land.

The designation of critical habitat means those areas contain features essential to conserve a threatened or endangered species and might require special management consideration or protection.

Such a designation does not affect the ownership of the land and does not establish a refuge or preserve, Fish and Wildlife said. The agency also said the designation does not stop private landowners from taking actions on their land that do not require federal funding or permits.

However, federal agencies that undertake, fund or allow actions that could affect critical habitat must consult Fish and Wildlife to ensure they do not adversely modify or destroy the critical habitat.

The agency completed a recovery plan for the Pecos sunflower in 2005. Recovery actions include securing core habitats essential for the plant's long-term survival and studying its population and habitat.

The agency said it has placed a high priority on pursuing voluntary conservation with landowners.

"Landowners can participate in a variety of informal and formal stewardship agreements that will promote conservation of this plant species on their land," said the agency's Southwest regional director, Benjamin Tuggle.

The Nature Conservancy manages for Pecos sunflowers at its Diamond Y Springs and Sandia Springs Preserves in West Texas while New Mexico has acquired a significant Pecos sunflower habitat site near Santa Rosa that's being managed to conserve the species.

In addition, Fish and Wildlife said a large number of the plants was discovered in 2004 at the La Joya State Waterfowl Management Area near Socorro.