Lesser prairie-chicken appeal dropped

TSCRA president Richard Thorpe made the following statement on the Obama Administration’s decision Wednesday to drop their appeal on a federal district court’s decision to delist the lesser prairie-chicken (LPC) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
“I am pleased the administration decided to drop their appeal of the 2015 federal district court decision that removed the lesser prairie-chicken from the threatened list,” said Thorpe. “This means the chicken is no longer federally protected under the endangered species act, providing major relief for ranchers who have long worried about the additional layer of federal regulations that came along with the listing of the LPC.
This decision comes after U.S. District Judge Robert A. Junell, of Midland, overturned the listing of the LPC as a threatened species on Sept. 3, 2015. The LPC was listed as threatened in 2014 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, affecting regions in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado.
“Ranchers across Texas and the Southwest are the best stewards of our nation’s land and have implemented successful conservation practices on their property. Federal regulations only inhibit their ability to implement these practices and provide food and fiber for a rapidly increasing world population. TSCRA will continue to aggressively monitor endangered species listings that could be harmful to ranchers and landowners,” Thorpe said.
Click here to read what the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Public Lands Council said about this decision.