Listing the lesser prairie chicken under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) could have broad economic implications, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF). Listing the bird is not without controversy, as cattle industry groups and an oil and gas association have filed a notice of intent to sue to overturn the final rule.
In November 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) listed two distinct populations (DPS) of the lesser prairie chicken under the ESA.
The Northern DPS inhabits the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado and will be listed as threatened, while the Southern DPS, located in west Texas and New Mexico, will be listed as endangered.
USFWS contends the bird has lost 90% of its habitat due to fragmentation and habitat loss, despite voluntary conservation efforts. Through aerial surveys, USFWS estimated the five-year average population in the five states is 27,384 birds.
Taking Southern DPS birds is prohibited under the ESA, which defines “take” as: “To harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or attempt to engage in such conduct.”
The Northern DPS is subject to a 4(d) rule that tailors protections for the bird and allows for agricultural practices on land that has been cultivated in the last five years. The 4(d) rule allows grazing, but USFWS and a third-party certifier must approve a site-specific grazing plan.
Lawsuit
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), along with industry groups and lead plaintiff Permian Basin Petroleum Association, filed a notice of intent to sue the Department of the Interior and USFWS over the listing of the lesser prairie chicken. The suit seeks to overturn the listing and revoke USFWS’ final rule.
NCBA Associate Director of Government Affairs Sigrid Johannes said in a statement the bird survives because of the conservation efforts of ranchers.
“The science has proven repeatedly that healthy, diverse rangelands—like those cultivated by livestock grazing—are where the lesser prairie chicken thrives,” Johannes said. “There are numerous places where this listing goes seriously wrong and we are defending cattle producers against this overreaching, unscientific rule.”
On Jan. 17, NCBA and several cattle associations sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and USFWS Director Martha Williams, seeking a delay in implementing the final rule. The letter states the 4(d) rule “is a gross federal overreach into the way that private landowners run their businesses,” and a delay is necessary for ranchers to enroll in the Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances program. The letter continued that having a third-party certifier “constitutes an invitation to activist groups to be deputized as grazing plan reviewers” and exercise control over private land.
The original effective date of the rule was Jan. 24, but USFWS announced it is extending the date to March 27 to “finalize conservation tools and guidance documents to avoid confusion and disruption for landowners, federal partners, and industry within the lesser prairie chicken’s five-state range.”
Economic impact
According to an American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) “Market Intel” report, the total value of direct agricultural receipts from crops and livestock across the five states inhabited by the prairie chicken is “nearly $55 billion, or 15% of total U.S. production by value.”
However, the bird’s habitat is not across the entire area of the five states. AFBF mapped the prairie chicken’s habitat using USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service’s county-by-county census of agriculture overlaid with the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ data on crucial habitat locations.
Once they overlaid this information, AFBF found the total of all agricultural sales on land in prairie chicken’s habitat was nearly $14 billion.
“Of this $14 billion figure, $10.9 billion, or 78%, comes from livestock production and the remaining $3 billion, or 22%, comes from crop production,” AFBF states. “As expected, most, or $6.9 billion, of the livestock production value is from cattle and calves.”
The Market Intel report stated the value of all agricultural sales categorized under the most critical areas for conservation was $3.2 billion, with the majority of $2.6 billion occurring in Kansas.
AFBF noted that the value of agricultural sales is a small part of the broader economic impact, as it is the primary driver of downstream industries and funds vital services such as local schools and public safety.
“Farmers and ranchers are committed to the health of the ecosystems they rely on to grow crops and raise livestock,” the Market Intel report concludes. “The families who choose to live in rural communities are often drawn by the diversity in vegetation and wildlife and the inherent role they play in stewarding the land as farmers and ranchers.
“With each dollar produced by an agricultural community multiplying through downstream channels into trillions in economic value, even small regulatory hurdles that harm farmers and ranchers can have a large impact well beyond rural America.”
Impact on Kansas
Kansas State (K-State) Research and Extension wildlife specialist Drew Ricketts said in an “Agriculture Today” video the prairie chicken listing would broadly affect Kansas agriculture.
The lesser prairie chicken currently occupies the western third of the state, but only part of the entire region, and Ricketts said it is important as a landowner to look at the maps to see if you are affected by the listing.
Ricketts said standard agricultural practices of tillage and the application of herbicides are allowed under the listing. The challenge is the application of broad-spectrum herbicides for weed control on non-cultivated land such as pastures, Ricketts said. He continued that spot control of invasive species would be allowed under the ESA take provision, but to consult with USFWS.
Regarding an approved grazing plan required under the 4(d) rule, Ricketts said it is not a range management plan, but USFWS will consider soils, past management of the parcel, precipitation and measures to deal with drought.
“It’s not a prairie chicken grazing plan, it’s not a range management plan, it is a plan to meet this 4(d) exemption so it’s something we’ve never dealt with before,” Ricketts said.
Ricketts said the guidance he received from USFWS is if a producer has been grazing the land for quite some time, they will likely qualify as an approved plan developer and should apply. Ricketts said the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) is considering becoming a plan developer. If producers are enrolled in any conservation programs managed by the agency now or in the future, they will be considered to meet the 4(d) exemption. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
