After a “rigorous review of the best available scientific and commercial information,” despite conservation efforts by landowners, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is listing two distinct population segments (DPS) of the lesser prairie chicken under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The southern DPS, which includes populations in eastern New Mexico and across the southwest Texas Panhandle, would be listed as endangered. The northern DPS, which encompasses southeastern Colorado, south-central to western Kansas, western Oklahoma and the northeast Texas Panhandle, would be listed as threatened with a 4(d) rule that tailors protections for the bird.
“The lesser prairie-chicken’s decline is a sign our native grasslands and prairies are in peril. These habitats support a diversity of wildlife and are valued for water quality, climate resilience, grazing, hunting and recreation,” said USFWS Southwest Regional Director Amy Lueders. “The Service continues to work with stakeholders to develop voluntary conservation agreements that will protect the lesser prairie-chicken and the native grasslands on which it depends while assuring that oil and gas and renewable energy development, ranching, agriculture and other activities continue.”
According to USFWS, the 4(d) rule for the northern DPS allows farmers to continue agricultural activities on existing cultivated lands. In addition, it would include an exception for ranchers who follow a “prescribed grazing plan developed by a qualified party” and approved by USFWS. The 4(d) rule also provides an exception for implementing prescribed burning for grassland management.
The announcement was denounced by the oil and gas industry, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands Council (PLC).
Executive Director of PLC and NCBA Natural Resources Kaitlynn Glover said in a statement that adopting a third-party grazing management plan as part of the 4(d) rule will prioritize political objectives over sound science and ensures grazing activities will be obstructed.
“Over and over, the science has proven that healthy, diverse rangelands—the exact kind of landscape maintained by livestock grazing—are where the lesser prairie chicken thrives,” Glover said. “Cattle ranchers’ efforts to conserve these acres are absolutely critical to the survival of the species. We are deeply disappointed by the Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to impose redundant bureaucracy and punitive restrictions on the very same people that we have to thank for the lesser prairie chicken’s continued existence on the range.”
USFWS has not identified any approved entities as of its announcement that would be able to certify grazing plans. However, PLC said it seems unlikely ranchers or agricultural entities will be allowed to sign off on their own grazing plans and still qualify for protection under the 4(d) rule.
Ben Shepperd, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, told the Midland Reporter-Telegram by email that the listing was “careless and irresponsible.” Shepperd concurred with Glover that voluntary conservation programs have successfully conserved the species. He continued that the organization and its members have been working with USFWS in conservation agreements, preserving habitat and spending millions of dollars to protect the species.
In the USFWS announcement, the agency acknowledged the partnerships that have been made to conserve the species. It noted that the Natural Resources Conservation Service has worked with nearly 900 landowners to implement conservation actions on approximately 1.6 million acres through the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative, 1.8 million acres across the range of the lesser prairie chicken through the Conservation Reserve Program, and 3 million acres in Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas through Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances.
“We have worked to ensure there are extensive options available for streamlined ESA compliance for all industries across the entire estimated occupied range of the lesser prairie-chicken,” Lueders said. “Moving forward, we welcome the opportunity to work with any other interested parties to develop additional options to fit their needs while providing regulatory certainty.”
USFWS said habitat loss and fragmentation have contributed to the loss of shinnery oak, sand sagebrush and mixed and shortgrass prairie ecosystems, which are vital for the prairie chicken. According to USFWS, the population has declined from “hundreds of thousands” to an estimated five-year average of 32,210 birds across the bird’s five-state region.
Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, praised the decision to list the bird under the ESA. The environmental group sued the agency in October for the delay in making a decision to list the lesser prairie chicken.
“We wish that the Fish and Wildlife Service hadn’t delayed this protection for 27 years, because quicker action would have meant a lot more lesser prairie chickens alive in a lot more places today,” Robinson said. “We’ll watch the next steps closely to ensure there are also strong protections for the wild places where these birds live.”
The final rule to list the two population segments of the lesser prairie chicken and the final 4(d) rule will be published in the Federal Register on Nov. 25 and will become effective 60 days after publication. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
