Washington, D.C. (September 2, 2015) - Yesterday a U.S. District Court judge invalidated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to list the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species, citing the agency's failure to consider voluntary conservation efforts.
Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Cynthia Lummis (WY-at large) issued the following statement in response:
"Judge Junell caught the Fish and Wildlife Service playing fast and loose with its own rules, putting a closed door court settlement deadline ahead of boots-on-the-ground conservation," said Chairman Lummis. "There is a better way to serve species and people in the 21st Century and that's with collaborative conservation like the Range-wide Plan, which doesn't need a federal listing to flourish. The expertise, resources, and will to conserve species at the state and local level have never been stronger. The forty year old Endangered Species Act needs to be updated to embrace stewardship over litigation."
Background:
- A survey touted by the United States Department of Agriculture shows that the lesser prairie chicken population is estimated to have increased by 25% in 2015 over the 2014 population.
- In May of this year, the U.S. House passed a defense spending bill with a provision to prevent a federal listing of the lesser prairie chicken for 10 years.