Environmental groups defend lesser prairie chicken's federal protections in New Mexico
Conservationists sought to defend federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken amid legal challenges filed by multiple states in its protected range, since the bird was listed as endangered earlier this spring.
The bird, a rare grouse species historically known to live throughout the American West, was listed as endangered in March in its southern range in southeast New Mexico and West Texas and threatened in another area of northern Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas.
An endangered listing means a species’ extinction is believed imminent, and makes it illegal for land users to kill or “take” individuals under most circumstances, while threatened status indicates an endangered listing could soon be warranted.
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The lesser prairie chicken’s population dwindled severely in recent years, imperiled by oil and gas, agriculture and other developments throughout the range, leading to the listing filed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
This came after decades of debate on the bird’s recovery, impacts from local industries and the need to save it from dying out.
Fossil and agriculture industry leaders opposed the listing as one that could stymie economic development, and the state leaders in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma filed a lawsuit in April seeking to overturn the listing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas Midland-Odessa Division.
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The attorneys general filing the suit argued the listing should be deemed unlawful, questioning the Service’s use of the northern and southern distinct population segments (DPS) and its assessment of industry impacts on the species’ recovery.
“The Service relies on its characterization of the current condition of the landscape to estimate the future condition on the landscape, making unreasonable assumptions about how current threats will develop,” read the lawsuit. “The Service’s assumptions about the future of oil and gas development are particularly haphazard.”
On June 5, the Center of Biological Diversity and the Texas Campaign for the Environment filed a motion to interview in defense of the listing, arguing federal protections were needed to save a bird conservationists said was “iconic” to the prairies of the U.S.
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The lesser prairie chicken is known for its unique mating rituals, which have drawn visitors and birdwatchers to the scrublands of eastern New Mexico and other parts of its range.
It is also considered an indicator species as to the health of the prairie, as the bird needs vast, open expanses of undisturbed land to breed, instinctively avoiding tall structures like oil wells or fences where predators could perch.
That’s why the Biodiversity Legal Foundation, later the Center for Biological Diversity, first petitioned the federal government to list the chicken in 1995.
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It was listed as threatened in 2014, but that decision was overturned a year later in response to opposition from the oil and gas industry.
Jason Rylander, legal director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute said the latest lawsuit was putting industry desires ahead of environmental needs of the land.
“Lesser prairie chickens are icons of the West, but they could go extinct if they lose their Endangered Species Act protections,” he said. “I’m not surprised that these states are prioritizing oil and gas profits over these imperiled birds, but we’re not going to stand by and watch it happen.”
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Opponents of the federal action argued voluntary conservation agreements by landowners were sufficient to protect the bird, seeing users of the land take on their own practices to prevent threats to the species.
In southeast New Mexico, those agreements are facilitated by the Center for Excellence (CEHMM), which reported in its latest report for the first quarter of 2023 surveyors observed 230 lesser prairie chickens in about 26 leks or breeding groups.
In its public comments submitted on the initial proposal for in 2021, fossil fuel trade group the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association contended its members participated in the practices successfully and that the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) “overestimated” the industry’s impacts to the lesser prairie chicken (LEPC).
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“The oil and gas industry’s conservation efforts, made in partnership with private landowners, work and are stabilizing and rebounding LEPC populations,” read the comments.
“FWS overstates impacts from oil and gas by relying on outdated assumptions regarding development and facilities planning and failing to account for technological advances in horizontal drilling which have significantly reduced impacts on LEPC and its habitat.”
But Robin Schneider, executive director at the Texas Campaign for the Environment said despite these activities, the prairie chicken will go extinct without federal action.
“The lesser prairie chicken is a Texas bird that needs protection, or it faces extinction,” Schneider said. “We are joining the fight to save all the species that call Texas home.”
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Lesser prairie chicken's protections in New Mexico defended in court
