Kansas lawmakers seek to delist lesser prairie-chicken
Two Kansas Republicans are leading an initiative to delist the lesser prairie chicken from the threatened and endangered species list.
U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kansas, recently led 14 of his colleagues in introducing legislation to remove the lesser prairie-chicken from the threatened and endangered species list and to prohibit future efforts to relist the LPC. U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, undertook a similar path in the Senate.
In November 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized a rule to list the Northern Distinct Population Segment of the lesser prairie-chicken as threatened under the Endangered Species Act despite an increase in the lesser prairie-chicken population. Rep. Mann’s bill would reverse this rule. Senator Marshall introduced a companion bill with other senators from the High Plains region regarding the bird.
Both said conservation efforts undertaken by farmers, ranchers, private landowners, agricultural and energy producers have enacted voluntary conservation efforts that have helped boost the bird’s population. Other House co-sponsors from the High Plains region include Reps. Derek Schmidt and Ron Estes, also of Kansas; Stephanie Bice, Frank Lucas and Josh Becheen, of Oklahoma; Don Bacon, of Nebraska; and Wesley Hunt, Jodey Arrington, Brian Babin and Keith Self, of Texas.
