Lesser Conservation: The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Proposes Threatened Listing for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken, Then Guts It
Trends, ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, Nov. 2013
2 Pages Posted: 17 Sep 2013 Last revised: 2 Nov 2013
Date Written: September 17, 2013
Abstract
The lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) is a rare grouse dressed in alternating brown and off-white bands and colorful embellishments for mating, with known habitat in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The species has experienced a rapid population decline as a result of human development, especially agriculture, and is down to only about a tenth of its prior habitat range. Because of this increasing vulnerability, and under pressure to list the species as a result of a massive listing-progress settlement in 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed threatened status in December 2012, 77 Fed. Reg. 73,828 (Dec. 11, 2012). After a comment period on this initial proposal, the FWS proposed the listing again in May 2013, this time adding a “special 4(d) rule” limiting the extent to which the lesser prairie-chicken is to be protected from “take” under section 9 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), 78 Fed. Reg. 26,302 (May 6, 2013).
This article briefly analyzes the impact of this listing.
Keywords: endangered species, lesser prairie chicken, ESA, oil & gas, wind, energy, section 4(d)
JEL Classification: Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation