Heinrich seeks billions in wildlife recovery funds as prairie chicken listed in New Mexico

Billions of dollars could be on the way to save some of the U.S.' most vulnerable animals, weeks after the lesser prairie chicken of southeast New Mexico was listed as endangered in an attempt to prevent its extinction.

New Mexico’s senior U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich sought again to increase federal funds to save endangered species throughout the U.S., reintroducing a bill that would unlock billions of dollars while also empowering states to lead recovery efforts.

The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) was first introduced by Heinrich in 2021, and a U.S. House of Representatives equivalent passed the House last year.

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On March 31, the RAWA was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate. It is similar to past versions, providing about $1.4 billion a year in funds dedicated to species recovery, along with $97.5 million for the work on 1,040 acres of Tribal land.

It would also require federal efforts to follow State Wildlife Action Plans mandated by Congress.

Heinrich said the bill, if passed, would aid conservation efforts for 12,000 wildlife species, hastening the work for about 1,600 species already listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

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“Protecting America’s fish and wildlife habitat means conserving the creatures we love before they ever become imperiled,” Heinrich said in a statement upon the bill’s reintroduction.

He said RAWA funding would allow “proactive” action to prevent species from becoming imperiled and requiring ESA listings.

“Without enough resources, state and Tribal wildlife agencies have been forced to pick and choose which species are worth saving,” Heinrich said.

“Instead of doing the proactive work that is necessary to maintain healthy wildlife populations on the front end, they have been forced into using reactive measures to rescue species after they are listed as threatened or endangered.”

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Co-sponsor of the bill U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said preventing ESA listings would help prevent restrictions imposed on industries that operate along habitats deemed critical for wildlife recovery.

He said the work would save “tens of millions of dollars in compliance costs for Americans and protect our country’s rich natural resources.”

“This situation must be avoided at all costs, and RAWA gives state and tribal wildlife commissions the tools needed to perform proactive, on-the-ground conservation to prevent threatened species from becoming endangered,” Tillis said.

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U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich) cosponsored the House bill and planned to do so for RAWA’s reintroduction. She said it would help address a “biodiversity crisis” in the U.S.

“The United States is facing an unprecedented biodiversity crisis, and we have a conservation, economic, and moral obligation to act in order to protect and recover America’s wildlife for future generations,” Dingell said.

The latest species in New Mexico to be listed as endangered was the lesser prairie chicken, a grouse that was estimated to once number in the millions throughout the Great Plains, but today dwindled as low as 500 birds inn the prairies of eastern New Mexico and West Texas.

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A northern population, encompassing parts of northern Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas was estimated at about 20,000 birds, and was listed as “threatened” under the ESA, meaning endangered status could be imminent.

The listings went into effect March 27, following an endangered listing in 2018 for the Texas hornshell mussel that survives only in an eight-mile stretch of the Black River near Carlsbad, and decades of debate over the unlisted dunes sagebrush lizard of eastern New Mexico.

When the chicken’s listing was approved in November 2022, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southwest Regional Director Amy Lueders said restoring the species could help revive native prairie grasslands.

“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," she said.

Aside from government efforts, landowners in the region were taking voluntary measures to conserve the bird and avoid mandated restrictions on land use, Leuders said.

“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.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Bill seeks recovery funds as prairie chicken listed in New Mexico