Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kansas), and seven House members sent a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Tuesday, encouraging her to delist the lesser prairie-chicken (LPC) under the Endangered Species Act by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Citing the stable population of the species and the successful, voluntary public-private conservation practices, Rep. Estes and his colleagues pointed out that the one-year review of the LPC is unnecessary.
"Current law provides FWS with discretion to prioritize critically impaired species, while giving lower priority to those species for which conservation efforts are already in place," the letter reads. "There are currently extensive conservation measures underway and in development by states, landowners, and industry stakeholder that will benefit the LPC."
"Kansas farmers, ranchers and community partners have taken extraordinary measures to protect the habitat of the lesser prairie-chicken," said Rep. Estes. "Yet in typical D.C. fashion, the federal government is trying to fix a problem that doesn't actually exist."
