Proposal to delist endangered lesser prairie-chicken advances
The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to use the Congressional Review Act to reverse the lesser prairie-chicken's listing under the Endangered Species Act — an effort that would make room for increased drilling in wildlife habitats.
With their local populations primarily living in and around the Permian Basin — the nation's largest petroleum-producing basin — the debate over the lesser prairie-chicken has remained a contentious issue between environmentalists and fossil fuel interests since it was initially proposed for ESA listing in 1995.
Since the 1960s, the species has lot about 97% of its population, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal previously reported. It was listed as a threatened species in 2014.
More: U.S. House committee votes to reverse protections for endangered Lesser Prairie-Chicken
"The science is clear — the lesser prairie-chicken will disappear from our grasslands without these protections,” said Marshall Johnson, chief conservation officer for National Audubon Society, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting North American wild bird species. “Science — not politics — should dictate how we protect our nation’s threatened and endangered wildlife.”
During Wednesday's 50-48 decision, all 49 Republican senators, including Texas senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, voted in favor of the resolution that would delist the lesser prairie-chicken. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin III was the sole Democrat to vote for the resolution.
The vote comes less than a week after the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources advanced a similar resolution. Ahead of the vote Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas, said he doubted the effectiveness of federal species protections — a belief consistent with much of the Republican party's long-standing criticism of the ESA's impact on industry and private property rights.
"The Endangered Species Act is an important part of our history, but it's also an outdated part of our history," Westerman said, noting the law was established in the 1970s. "I believe we have an incredible responsibility to steward our rich diversity of wildlife here in America and care for them in ways that allow them to flourish for generations to come. But I disagree with my colleagues when they are adamant that listing a species is the only way to ensure its survival. In fact, we've seen the opposite is often true."
The White House indicated Wednesday that President Joe Biden would veto the proposal if it clears Congress. A similar piece of legislation has already been introduced in the U.S. House, which is currently majority Republican.
"Overturning common-sense protections for the lesser prairie-chicken would undermine America’s proud wildlife conservation traditions, risk the extinction of a once-abundant American bird, and create uncertainty for landowners and industries who have been working for years to forge the durable, locally led conservation strategies that this rule supports," the White House statement reads.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Proposal to delist endangered lesser prairie-chicken advances
