Lesser prairie chicken could see protections via renewable energy projects in New Mexico
Renewable energy could hold the key to save the lesser prairie chicken from extinction in New Mexico and across the west, said conservationists.
The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) held its annual meeting July 10 to 13, hosting conservationists and those working to restore the chicken to its historic range.
The lesser prairie chicken was listed as endangered, meaning extinction was viewed as imminent, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year in its southern distinct population segment (DPS) covering parts of southeast New Mexico and West Texas.
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The northern DPS in Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas was listed as threatened, meaning conditions could warrant an endangered listing in the near future.
These listings set off backlash from industry groups arguing they would restrict land access, including an ongoing lawsuit filed in Midland, Texas.
From the WAFWA meeting, Wayne Walker, chief executive officer at conservation banking company LPC Conservation said Tuesday that the bird could become extinct in the next 25 years, citing a recent report from Texas Tech University.
In New Mexico and west Texas, there are fewer than 500 birds remaining in the southern DPS.
The Texas Tech study reported drought and rising temperatures could bring nest survival down below levels considered "viable" for the species' survival, but the trend could be "offset" by habitat management and conservation.
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In total, the Fish and Wildlife Service estimated there were about 27,384 chickens surviving in the five-state range, compared to potentially millions of the grouse that once roamed the American West.
“It was a tough spring for breeding season. You didn’t get much rain,” Walker said. “You have had some in the last month or two, but it was pretty late in chick production.”
He said the conservation banking group, which gathers tracts of land by paying owners a “market rate” for their land and then selling conservation credits to developers to create “strongholds” of continuous habitat, was working with renewable energy developers in the region.
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LPC Conservation was involved in the Colorado Power Pathway Project owned by Xcel, that saw about 600 miles of electricity transmission lines installed in rural Colorado, ensuring prairie chicken habitats were not interrupted, and Walker said that model could prove advantageous in New Mexico.
In eastern New Mexico around Roosevelt County, where the bird is most known to mate in groups called “leks” Xcel’s Sagamore Wind Project was built ahead of the listing and not subject to the requirements of Walker’s program.
But he said future projects in the state’s growing renewable energy sector could adopt strategies to avoid damaging chicken habitat and avoiding legal liabilities that can total in millions of dollars.
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“We’re right at the finish line of having some our first enrollments in our habitat conservation plan. The initial players are in Colorado, but we think after they will move into New Mexico,” Walker said. “Renewable energy projects are a big opportunity.”
Meanwhile, the dunes sagebrush lizard which also dwells in southeast New Mexico was listed as endangered earlier this summer, following the Texas hornshell mussel being listed in 2018.
“These are two species that have been talked about and talked about in New Mexico. Neither one are doing very well,” he said. “The programs they said were going to get us there have not worked. Now we’re in clean up mode.”
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Walker said continual listings of these species in the region demonstrate that government and industry-led conservation programs are not working.
“There are a few areas where the conservation efforts for both species overlap. The recipe for those programs is the same,” he said. “It’s been primarily an industry-driven design. These things are just not set up well. They’re set up to benefit the industry, not the species. They just didn’t work.”
Mike Smith with Common Ground Capital, an investment firm partnering with LPC Conservation said amid federal action to incentivize wind and solar projects by the administration of President Joe Biden, work will have to focus on ensuring this infrastructure does not worsen the prairie chicken’s chances of survival.
He pointed to renewable now producing more energy that coal in the U.S., arguing the growing sector must be built out cautiously to protect species like the chicken.
“Biden needs to stand up his renewables. He needs his renewables to happen. For the first time, we have more power from renewables than coal,” Smith said. “We’re just waiting for the last piece. The opportunities presented by these wind farms are big. It will take a big lift to restore the species’ populations.”
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 sees protection via New Mexico renewable power
