Sen. Marshall Urges Biden Administration Not to List Lesser Prairie Chicken

(Washington, D.C., May 21, 2021) – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. issued the following statement after joining his colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland strongly encouraging her not to list the Lessor Prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act. 

“Land owners in Kansas are dedicated conservationists and take pride in leaving their land cleaner, healthier, and safer for the next generation. They take it upon themselves to adopt conservation practices to protect wildlife, especially the most vulnerable species,” said Senator Marshall. “Recent population estimates reinforce the wisdom of following the lead of the landowners who are securing stronghold habitats and the USFWS should not undercut those efforts by imposing a listing on top of them.

In part the letter reads: “We strongly believe it would be imprudent and harmful to ongoing and unprecedented conservation efforts in our states for the Service to issue what would amount to a premature ESA listing proposal for the LPC… A premature listing sends the wrong message to the private partners who have invested important resources and adopted conservation practices to protect the LPC and prevent a listing. A premature listing would undermine the confidence of the private sector in the Service and their willingness to maintain ongoing conservation activity related to the LPC or any other species under ESA consideration in the future. Instead, the Service should recognize, respect, and reward the private sector for their conservation efforts.”

Click HERE to read the full text of the letter.

Background:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the lesser prairie-chicken as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2014. The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas vacated the bird’s listing under the act because it failed to consider the impact of a voluntary conservation effort to preserve the bird. USFWS will make a decision on listing the bird by May 26, 2021.

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