A federal judge has struck down the Biden administration’s 2022 decision to list the lesser prairie-chicken as endangered, vacating the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule after finding it was based on a “foundational error.”
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas ruled earlier this week that federal officials failed to provide sufficient justification for the listing, siding with Texas, Oklahoma, and industry groups who argued that the rule ignored years of local conservation efforts that have boosted the species’ population.
“This week, a district court confirmed what we’ve been saying all along and rightfully struck down the listing. This is a major step forward in ending the years-long attack on farmers, ranchers, and energy producers across Texas,” Congressman August Pfluger (R–San Angelo) said Thursday in a post on X.
Pfluger has referred to the Biden administration’s inclusion of the lesser prairie-chicken on the endangered species list as “completely misguided, ignoring the vigilant conservation efforts already underway in West Texas.”
Property rights advocacy group American Stewards for Liberty explained in May that the voluntary conservation efforts made by private landowners in Texas, along with farmers, ranchers, and energy producers, have increased the LPC population “by over 15,000 in the last 10 years thanks to local and private management efforts,” which the Biden administration ignored.
Texas Scorecard reported earlier this spring that Pfluger joined U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann (KS–01) in a letter to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum urging the removal of the lesser prairie-chicken from the endangered species list, arguing such action would free American energy, highlight the state’s successful conservation efforts, and end regulatory overreach in rural communities.
In response to the court’s ruling, Pfluger said, “We can—and must—protect important species without sacrificing the livelihoods of our local and rural communities that power our nation.”
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