B. alvarius is listed as endangered by the New Mexico Dept. of Fish and Game. The species barely enters that state, so they are interested in trying to preserve the species in NM. Likewise, the species barely enters SE California, and in fact may be essentially extinct in that state; however, I am not aware that it is listed by California. But as far as I am aware, there is no protection of the species by either Arizona, US Federal, or Mexico (its range in Mexico is considerably greater than in the US). Nor would I recommend its protection at this time. It is not a species that the occasional herpetologically inclined amateur would see all that often if they just occasionally drove the roads during a storm or whatever. Their distribution is spotty in most areas and they only emerge under the correct environmental conditions. But those herpetologists who are active year-round in Arizona have not reported any noticeable reduction in abundance in its usual haunts. In my opinion, we should be very judicious in listing a species as threatened or endangered. If we start listing every
animal which does not seem quite as common in one particular area during a single year, we will defeat the purpose of protection. When most wildlife becomes protected people will start ignoring that protection. Because of the spotty nature of its distribution, I would regard any estimate of total population size as a wild guess.