Issues
Kansas Pushes Back Against Lesser Prairie Chicken Listing. On April 2nd, the state attorney general’s office announced that Kansas is joining a lawsuit with Oklahoma, suing the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for listing the Lesser Prairie Chicken as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The suit alleges that the FWS’s final determination on the bird was not based on scientific data, but instead was the result of a “lawsuit by an environmental group, in which FWS agreed to consider numerous species for listing.” Kansas officials claim that the population decrease of the Lesser Prairie Chicken has been caused by a recent drought; they argue that once normal weather patterns resume the trend will reverse.
As the Associated Press reports, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach advocated for aggressive action in response to the federal government’s listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken. Kobach is also supporting a bill that removes the federal government’s right to police the bird or its habitat in the state.
Additionally, the state senate approved a bill in February that includes a provision that would make it illegal for a federal employee to regulate the Lesser Prairie Chicken. According to the Associated Press, the Kansas House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee “jettisoned the provision allowing felony charges against federal employees and an alternate proposal to fine them $100 for each enforcement attempt.”
Lesser Prairie Chicken is Great Concern for Texas Energy Companies. After last week’s “threatened” listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken, oil and gas companies located in the Permian Basin are concerned regulatory action could carry a heavy cost. In a statement following the decision, Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter criticized the federal listing:
“It appears the federal agency has been influenced heavily by the environmentalist agenda, which has very little to do with preservation of this species and more with the eradication of the oil and gas industry.”
Porter went on to say that the ruling is an example of President Obama’s “war on fossil fuels.” U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, (R-TX) also weighed in:
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[The] decision, which has real-world consequences for Texas families, landowners and businesses, is a missed opportunity to acknowledge Texans’ unprecedented conservation efforts.”Steve Myers, the director of Class 4 Winds and Renewables, was equally critical of the ruling, stating that the looming regulations for the energy industry would be widespread:
“So oil and gas, wind turbines, any tall structure now is going to be in jeopardy when it comes to where they can put this if it’s going to be in the middle of the Lesser Prairie Chicken habitat. It’s all going to have to be looked at.”
The IPAA ESA Watch team will continue to monitor the situation as it moves forward. For more information on the final listing visit FWS.org.
Neugebauer Proposes Reform to Endangered Species Act. This week, Congressman Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) also expressed his disappointment with the listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken. In an April 1st statement, the Congressman said that the decision to list the Lesser Prairie Chicken was “unnecessary” and the result of “activist lawsuits instead of what’s best for the species and the communities near its habitat.”
In an effort to prevent future listings like the Prairie Chicken, Neugebauer introduced two bills to reform the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The first piece of legislation, H.R. 4284, the “ESA Improvement Act,” mandates that FWS involves the potentially effected states in the determination process of a threatened or endangered species. The cooperation between the federal government and individual states, as well as a more transparent determination process, would allow states more say in protecting species. The second bill, H.R. 4317, the “State, Tribal, and Local Species Transparency and Recovery Act,” requires that FWS be transparent with the scientific data it analyzes during the review process in order to justify federally-listed species. Furthermore, H.R. 4317 requires FWS to include state and local scientific data in their determination process.
Read Neugebauer’s full statement on the two bills to reform the ESA HERE.
House Subcommittee Held Hearing on FY15 Budget for Fish and Wildlife Service. This week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies held a hearing on the Fiscal Year 2015 proposed budget for the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The hearing focused on issues including drought and water conservation, the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and wildlife trafficking. FWS Director Dan Ashe provided testimony at the meeting.
Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert (R-CA) opened the meeting, highlighting in his statements that the ESA is a critical issue for the FWS. He noted that the law is long overdue for an update or reform, and that it is time to move away from a single-species approach that harms not only the species, but the people and economies of local areas. Congressman Calvert also stated that the focus of the ESA should be on prevention and recovery of at-risk species, not the accumulation of ESA listings. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) also posed questions regarding the potential ESA listing of the Sage Grouse. He asked about the status of FWS’ management plan for the Sage Grouse and the agency’s views of Idaho’s management plan. Ashe explained that the effort is broad and comprehensive, and that there are currently ten states working together as well as the BLM and FWS. Director Ashe also noted that FWS asked for a $4 million increase to support conservation of the grouse across 11 states.
In the News
Prairie Chicken Decision Presages Withering Regulatory Assault. Forbes, David Blackmon. Not to be outdone, on March 28 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its decision to list the Lesser Prairie Chicken as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. While this designation is a step below the “endangered” status under the ESA, and theoretically provides regulators and affected parties more flexibility in determining ways to go about protecting this bird, the potential negative impacts of the listing on vast swaths of five different states is very significant.
Wyoming spent $7.9 million on sage grouse conservation. Billings Gazette. Wyoming has spent $7.9 million on sage grouse conservation since 2005. That was the finding of a new report by the Western Governors Association, which inventoried the efforts of 11 western states to protect the bird and its habitat.
Chamber favors state-based plan for protecting sage grouse. Billings Business. Because the birds nest on the ground under sagebrush or in grass patches, their habitat can be threatened by development. Habitat concerns are leading to a very real threat that sage grouse could be listed under the Endangered Species Act and the result would dramatically impact the energy and agriculture sectors of Montana’s economy.
Judge Oks Post-Gulf Spill Oil Leases. Courthouse News Service. Oceana argued that the BOEM had violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to take a “hard look” at the environmental impacts of the lease sales, and had run afoul of the Endangered Species Act by failing to protect listed species.
Wildlife officials: Lizard off threatened list. Associated Press. Wildlife officials say a tiny lizard found only on Southern California’s Channel Islands has been removed from the federal list of threatened species after 37 years. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday that the island night lizard is no longer subject to its threatened status under the Endangered Species Act. It had been protected since 1977. NOTE: also reported by E&E News (sub req’d)
Groups sue USFWS over bull trout recovery plan. Bozeman Daily Chronicle. Two Montana environmental groups are suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for again failing to follow Endangered Species Act requirements, this time as they relate to bull trout.
Major new allies join ESA fight. Drovers Cattle Network News. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is another prime example of overreaching federal government power, drawing opposition from the timber industry and agriculture early on.
County to consider pushing back on raven protection. Elko Daily Press. Having already declared ravens a nuisance, county leaders will decide Wednesday whether to demand the birds be removed from federal protection. At its last meeting, Spring Creek resident Neil Whitmer introduced a resolution that lists a number of facts regarding ravens and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
