According to a listing in the Federal Register earlier today- “In response to a court order, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) are removing the northern and the southern distinct population segments (DPSs) of the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife.”
The complete rule may be seen by clicking here.
The senior member of the Oklahoma Congressional delegation,Congressman Frank Lucas of the Third District says this is an action that is a long time coming: “I am very pleased to see the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delist the lesser prairie chicken under the Endangered Species Act, an action that I have advocated for many years in Washington, DC. Oklahomans are proud conservationists and great stewards of our land, and delisting the lesser prairie chicken will rightly claw back onerous regulations that infringe on Oklahomans’ daily lives. This action is a long time coming and I know it will be well received in OK-03.”
Michael Kelsey with the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association is excited that the Fish and Wildlife Service has finally taken this step: “OCA celebrates the final steps of removing the lesser prairie-chicken from the Endangered Species list. Grazers such as cattle have long been symbiotic to robust prairie-chicken populations which has been upheld through sound science and documentation.”
Another group that has been involved in the legal battle for a decade is the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Their current President, Virginia cattleman Gene Copenhaver agrees with Congressman Lucas that this is the right decision. “The ESA listing of the lesser prairie-chicken, coupled with the designation of critical habitat across cattle country, created an unnecessary and unlawful burden for ranchers. Established science has repeatedly proven that healthy rangelands maintained by cattle grazing is exactly where the lesser prairie-chicken thrives. Grazing creates robust, sustainable habitat for the bird, and by removing this listing, the Trump administration is helping ranchers continue that stewardship. NCBA engaged with multiple administrations, Congress, and the federal court system for years to defend cattle producers from this overreaching, unscientific rule, and we are glad it is finally removed.”
This listing took effect on March 27, 2023, impacting all states in the species’ range including Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. In 2025, the U.S. Federal District Court of Western Texas vacated the lesser prairie-chicken’s 4(d) rule, holding that the bird should no longer be protected as “threatened” under the ESA because FWS failed to consider economic implications of issuing the listing. Today’s action by FWS aligns agency action with an existing federal court mandate and is long overdue.
