On November 25, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued two final rules listing two Distinct Population Segments (DPS) of the lesser prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The southern DPS of the lesser prairie-chicken will be listed as endangered. The northern DPS will be listed as threatened, with additional provisions under the ESA to offer protections for the lesser prairie-chicken population while also providing greater flexibility to agricultural producers operating within the range of the northern DPS. For more information on the FWS rulemaking, click here.

The lesser prairie-chicken population has steeply declined in recent years on account of gradual habitat loss and fragmentation. Recent studies have estimated that the lesser prairie-chicken’s native habitat has diminished across its historical range by about 90 percent, while the total population has fallen to just over 32,000 individuals. These habitats have been increasingly threatened by a combination of climatic shifts and human activity.

FWS proceeded with a listing despite ongoing efforts by federal, state and local partners to develop conservation initiatives, such as Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAA) and Habitat Conservation Plans (HCP), that have conserved millions of acres across the lesser prairie-chicken’s current range. Many of these conservation plans have been spearheaded by voluntary partnerships with farmers and ranchers.

As intergovernmental partners in wildlife and natural resource management, counties have a particular interest in the implementation of environmental statutes like the ESA. Counties recognize the importance of the ESA as an essential safeguard for America’s fish, wildlife, and plants, and therefore support updating and improving it to better achieve its goals. Effective implementation of the ESA must protect the good faith efforts of counties to grow species populations and conserve their habitat while ensuring local economies are not negatively impacted.