Feds put lesser prairie chickens in the southern part of their range back on the endangered species list

Lesser prairie chicken (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has put the southern population of the lesser prairie chicken back on the endangered-species list, citing “fairly drastic” differences in the outlook for survival of the species in different areas of the Great Plains.

"The new rule lists the southern distinct lesser prairie chicken population in eastern New Mexico and the southwest Texas Panhandle as an endangered species," Scott Streater reports for Energy and Environment News. "The northern distinct population in the northeast Texas Panhandle, southeast Colorado, south-central Kansas and western Oklahoma is being listed as a threatened species."

The rule will be published in the Federal Register Nov. 25 and go into effect 60 days later, on Jan. 24, 2023. The threatened population will be covered by a controversial provision of the Endangered Species Act, — the Section 4(d) rule — that exempts "certain agricultural activities, livestock grazing and controlled fires from a provision barring incidentally killing, harming or harassing prairie chickens, if those engaging in such activities commit to certain conservation practices," Streater writes. It does not exempt energy production, a key issue for producers in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said the protections are needed to save the bird, which Streater notes "is known for its colorful mating ritual each spring. . . .Populations have declined across its range by an estimated 90 percent since the early 20th century, when birds numbered in the hundreds of thousands, to a total of about 32,210 birds today."