Lesser prairie chicken loses endangered species status

A stout grouse native to eastern New Mexico has lost its endangered species status.

The lesser prairie chicken has gained and lost federal protections more than once as conservation groups, lawmakers, oil producers and agriculture businesses have argued over the bird’s fate.

An estimated 27,000 birds remain in the wild due to habitat loss and fragmentation. The species has lost an estimated 90% of its historic habitat, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service guide.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas vacated the Endangered Species Act listing on Aug. 12, ruling it was inappropriate to evaluate the lesser prairie chicken as two separate populations. The northern population had been listed as threatened, while the southern population in New Mexico and Texas was listed as endangered, providing it with more protections. Now, neither group of lesser prairie chicken has federal protections.

“Lesser prairie chicken, throughout its range, no longer has any federal Endangered Species Act protection,” said Jason Rylander, legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “It is solely at the mercy of state regulation, which, as we’ve seen in the last 30 years, has not been adequate to protect and recover the species.”

Lesser prairie chickens are known for their colorful mating dances. The male birds have long neck feathers called pinnae that are erected during courtship displays, according to the guide.

The birds refuse to set up mating grounds near tall structures, because their predators are traditionally birds of prey that roost in tall trees, Rylander said. Both oil jacks and wind turbines can disrupt their habitat.

Much of the existing lesser prairie chicken population resides in Kansas, but a smaller group of the birds build their nests in New Mexico. Its range also includes Texas, Colorado and Oklahoma. The species’ habitat is projected to continue declining in “all but the most optimistic scenario” over the next 25 years, a 2022 U.S. Fish and Wildlife report on the species status found. That projection did not take into account climate change, although climate change is expected to affect the bird’s reproduction and survival.

The population in eastern New Mexico and West Texas was estimated at 3,000 birds.

In 2014, the species was previously listed as threatened, but that listing was also reversed by the courts.

Republican politicians in New Mexico and Kansas celebrated the decision to vacate the Endangered Species Act listing.

“This victory is a triumph for New Mexico’s hardworking ranchers and energy producers,” New Mexico Senate Republican Whip Pat Woods and Sens. Candy Ezzell and Pat Boone said in a joint statement.

New Mexico Cattle Growers Association President Bronson Corn was also pleased with the decision. When it came to listing lesser prairie chickens, cattle ranchers in eastern New Mexico were concerned that private land would be taken for habitat conservation, Corn said.

Designating critical habitat for an endangered species does not affect private land ownership or allow the government to take or manage private land, according to a guide from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Cattle producers in New Mexico often graze livestock on a combination of private property and public Bureau of Land Management property, according to Corn.

Ranchers have been working on voluntary conservation projects for the species, doing things like eliminating structures over 6 feet tall, so the birds will feel at ease, and keeping livestock out of bird mating areas, Corn said.

“There’s been a huge push from the ranchers by utilizing funding that is coming out of the oil and gas industry to help propagate that population,” Corn said.

But environmental advocates still want more legal protections for the birds.

“The fact is that voluntary conservation is important, but it is insufficient,” Rylander said.

The Center for Biological Diversity plans to petition again for the species to be listed and is considering appealing the Texas judge’s decision.

“I think it’s incredibly problematic that we do not list species earlier, and that we end up in these vicious cycles of litigation over what should be a national commitment to preserving our biological heritage,” Rylander said.