Feds to protect lesser prairie chicken in Kansas. It is likely to touch off a legal battle
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service moved Thursday to classify the lesser prairie chicken in Kansas as threatened, enhancing their protections under federal law and potentially touching off a legal response from the state.
The news is the latest in the long-running back-and-forth over the bird's fate, as conservationists have sought support for the 30,000 lesser prairie chickens remaining in the country, a 90% decline over the past century.
The agency indicated last year it would make such a move, submitting a proposal and taking public comment on the matter, though the Center for Biological Diversity sued the USFWS earlier this year, arguing it was moving too slowly.
More:Infrastructure law has sent $1.5 billion to Kansas so far. Here's how it will be spent.
Lesser prairie chicken will be listed as endangered in Texas and New Mexico
In two other southwest states, Texas and New Mexico, the bird will be listed as endangered, triggering even stricter protections.
“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 Amy Lueders, USFWS southwest regional director. “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.”
The agency said it has worked with nearly 900 landowners on conservation efforts related to the bird. And farmers will be able to continue their agricultural activities on land they are currently cultivating, although this protection doesn't apply to new land that is used in the future.
Ranchers with an approved grazing plan also will have flexibility in their dealings with the bird. Hunting of the lesser prairie chicken has been banned in the state since 2014.
More:The highly contagious HPAI bird flu has reached Shawnee County. Here's what that means.
Kansas lawmakers have feared effect on farming, ranching and energy
Kansas lawmakers have long met federal action on the lesser prairie chicken issue with resistance due to feared impacts on farming, ranching and energy development.
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s announcement is disappointing and a reminder that this Administration favors government micromanagement of agriculture and heavy-handed regulation in their war against energy producers instead of working with landowners to promote continued voluntary conservation efforts,” U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said in a statement.
In 2014, the state sued the federal government over making the prairie chicken a threatened species, arguing the designation isn’t necessary to rebuild the bird’s population. Federal officials ultimately backed off the move under President Donald Trump's administration.
That same year, the state also considered a law at the urging of then-Secretary of State Kris Kobach that would allow Kansas officials to charge their federal counterparts with a felony if any individual attempted to enforce federal laws related to the lesser prairie chicken.
Kobach was elected as attorney general by voters last week and, in a statement, promised a lawsuit over the bird's designation.
"As I predicted in multiple campaign speeches, the Biden Administration was making moves that indicated their intention to list the lesser prairie chicken as threatened, a move that seriously impairs Kansas's ability to drill for oil, as well as to build wind farms," Kobach said.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Lesser prairie chicken in Kansas to be shielded, despite resistance
