The U.S. Senate passed legislation nullifying the listing of the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species.
Kansas’s representation in Washington has consistently pushed back on the bird’s listing under the Endangered Species Act, citing a negative economic impact on the state.
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall sponsored a measure repealing federal protections for the prairie bird. Kansas Rep. Tracy Man also led companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. Senator Jerry Moran echoed similar sentiments, saying that there are way to conserve the species that do no hinder economic development in rural communities.
The lesser prairie chicken is found in parts of the Midwest and Southwest, including one of the country’s most prolific oil and gas fields; a portion of the oil-rich Permian Basin along the New Mexico-Texas state line and extends into parts of Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas. Officials have said that the habitat of the bird has diminished across about 90% of its historical range.
They were once thought to number in the millions, but now hover around 30,000, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Environmentalists have long sought stronger federal protections for the bird, which they consider severely at risk due to oil and gas development, livestock grazing and farming, along with roads and power lines.
Marshall, Mann, Moran, and other Republicans say greater protections aren’t needed and that the government instead should rely on voluntary conservation efforts already in place. Officials with the National Wildlife Federation argue that these voluntary efforts are not enough.
