Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a notice of intent to file suit Wednesday, Feb. 1 against the United States Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concerning the lesser prairie-chicken’s listing under the Endangered Species Act.
Oklahoma Farm Bureau issued the following statement in response to Attorney General Drummond’s notice:
As farmers and ranchers who strive to be good conservationists and wise stewards of the land, Farm Bureau members appreciate Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s action to notify the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Department of the Interior of the state of Oklahoma’s intention to file a lawsuit opposing the listing of the lesser prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act.
Oklahoma has been at the forefront of conserving and enhancing the lesser prairie-chicken’s natural habitat through actions by numerous state and federal agencies to assist landowners with conservation measures, including the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances, which has hundreds of thousands of acres enrolled in the program.
Additionally, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has a long history of working with landowners in the southern Great Plains region to share the costs of conservation practices and assist with whole-farm planning – a measure that benefits both the agricultural land and the wildlife species native to the area.
Farmers and ranchers feel a threatened listing under the ESA alone does little to preserve the species and believe landowners’ voluntary conservation practices are more effective in protecting and enhancing critical wildlife populations.
Farm Bureau members believe the states – rather than the federal government – are in the best position to gather data, perform research and assist landowners with lesser prairie-chicken conservation planning and implementation. We applaud Attorney General Drummond for his swift action on this important issue.
