Statement released on prairie chicken ruling

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The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) released a statement Thursday in support of a U.S. District judge’s order to vacate the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s decision to place the lesser prairie chicken on the threatened species list.

The WAFWA is a private non-profit organization that represents all 23 states and provinces in the western U.S. and Canada, according to WAFWA Representative Cal Baca, who said it was his organization that initiated the Range-wide Conservation Plan in which land owners have donated habitat to support the prairie chicken.

Baca said the WAFWA thinks the court’s ruling was a good decision, because “we feel it validates that we put together a comprehensive conservation plan.”

“The judge felt they did not give us enough time to put the plan out to landowners to get as much participation as possible,” Baca said. “Given the time to implement that plan, we could have shown a significant reduction in the (LPC) threat.”

The district court ruling stated the FWS did not follow its own required process for reviewing conservation plans.

The FWS could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The WAFWA press release said the RWP was developed with the intention of long-term conservation of the lesser prairie-chicken, regardless of its Endangered Species Act status.

The release said the plan allows agriculture producers and industry to continue operations while reducing the identified threats considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

“The court decision underscores the validity of a comprehensive voluntary conservation effort involving state conservation agencies, landowners and industry,” the release read. “Regardless of the eventual outcome of this latest court decision, continued implementation of the RWP is critical to long-term conservation of the bird and its habitat.”

The release also said since the RWP went into effect last year, more than 96,000 acres of lesser prairie chicken habitat is being conserved, and more than 180 oil, gas, wind, electric and pipeline companies have enrolled about 11 million acres across the five-state (Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico) habitat and have committed $47.5 million for habitat conservation.

“An abundance of spring rainfall, along with ongoing efforts associated with the RWP and other conservation initiatives, has helped increase the population of birds by approximately 25 percent from 2014 to 2015, according to results from a recent range-wide aerial survey,” the release said.

“Despite this encouraging news, the population is still low compared to historical numbers and the threats to the lesser prairie chicken and its habitat still exist.”

But, said Baca, the WAFWA organization received federal endorsement for the RWP before the district court ruling even took place.

“So regardless of the (LPC listing) outcome, we still have the ability to move forward with our plan,” he said.