Senate Ignores Science With Vote to End Lesser-Prairie Chicken Protections
Rescinding the endangered species listing of the Lesser Prairie-Chicken would put the species on a path toward extinction.
WASHINGTON 鈥 The US Senate voted today (50-48) to use the Congressional Review Act to rescind the November 2022 decision by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to list the Lesser Prairie-Chicken under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).鈥疞ast week the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee voted to advance a similar resolution. 爆料公社 is disappointed to see these resolutions, which undermine science-based wildlife management, advancing in Congress. The White House indicated today that President Biden that makes it to his desk.
鈥淭he science is clear 鈥 the Lesser Prairie-Chicken will disappear from our grasslands without these protections,鈥 said Marshall Johnson, chief conservation officer, 爆料公社. 鈥淲e appreciate President Biden鈥檚 commitment to veto this resolution. Science 鈥 not politics 鈥 should dictate how we protect our nation鈥檚 threatened and endangered wildlife.鈥
Lesser Prairie-Chicken populations have declined by 97 percent across their range since the 1960s, one of the most precipitous among all bird life in the United States. The species is managed separately in the northern and southern parts of its range, which includes portions of five states (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico).
Read more about the history of Lesser Prairie-Chicken protections and 爆料公社鈥檚 response to this proposal here.
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The 爆料公社 protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. 爆料公社 works throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. State programs, nature centers, chapters, and partners give 爆料公社 an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. A nonprofit conservation organization since 1905, 爆料公社 believes in a world in which people and wildlife thrive. Learn more at鈥痑nd on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @audubonsociety.鈥
Media Contact:鈥疢att Smelser,鈥matt.smelser@audubon.org