The Pariette cactus (Sclerocactus brevispinus) is one of Utah's most beautiful and most imperiled wildflowers. Found only in one drainage of the Uinta Basin, this native plant's precarious status is well known, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been considering adding Pariette cactus to the Endangered Species Act list for over a decade. To prevent a new 900 well drilling project in its habitat from wiping out the Pariette cactus forever, we have petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to grant Endangered Species Act protection to it on an emergency basis. The Bureau of Land Management refers to the Uinta Basin as "Utah's oil patch" for good reason. In 2004, 1,006 permits to drill were approved by the state in Uintah and Ducshesne Counties (the counties where Pariette cactus occurs), and these accounted for over 91% of the permits issued that year. The BLM estimates that over 6,500 more wells will be drilled in the Uinta Basin in the next 15 years.