WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Tom Udall has led a bipartisan call to extend a decision whether to list the lesser prairie chicken under the Endangered Species Act, his office announced today.
Udall and senators from the five states affected by a possible listing sent a letter to Dan Ashe, Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), requesting an additional six months in the listing decision process, as allowed by the Endangered Species Act.
"With an influx of significant new public input from the reopened comment period, and with the submission of the five-state conservation proposal, we encourage you to consider a six-month extension under this authority" beyond the September, 2013, deadline, the senators wrote.
In the letter, Udall and the senators asked FWS that more time be given for state wildlife conservation agencies and stakeholder groups to work toward completing the five-state, voluntary but binding conservation plan to protect the species. The full text can be found here .
It was the first bipartisan letter on the lesser prairie chicken and signed by all ten senators from the five affected states, including Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.).
"Since the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed a 'threatened' listing of the species last fall, state wildlife managers have worked together to prepare a five-state plan for preservation of the LPC," the letter continued. "The recently proposed five-state conservation plan has great potential for increasing protection of the species across our five states" and extending the deadline would allow FWS "to assess the benefits of the proposed plan and whether conservation efforts have been established to the point that a listing is not warranted."
"Given the ground-breaking nature of the five-state plan, we are interested in giving participants the maximum amount of time to enroll in these programs and demonstrate their effectiveness."
This action follows Udall's
original letter
to Director Ashe the day after the listing was first proposed, when Udall highlighted local efforts already being done to protect the chicken's habitat and asked that their efforts guide any possible listing decision.
"As you know, private citizens, companies and public land management agencies in New Mexico have been working for years to help maintain Lesser Prairie Chicken habitat and protect the species," Udall said at the time.
Udall noted that in New Mexico, many private land owners and have already coordinated with Fish and Wildlife Service and USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have worked with permit and lease holders on Candidate Conservation Agreements (CCA) and Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAA). The Center of Excellence in Carlsbad has been successfully managing these agreements to ensure habitat for both the lesser prairie chicken and the sand dune lizard is maintained in almost two million acres throughout New Mexico. These agreements provide a safe-harbor for those enrolled to continue previously agreed upon operations and conservation activities regardless of the outcome of any listing decision.
A map of the estimated range of the lesser prairie chicken can be found here .
Lesser Prairie Chicken Date Extension Request to FWS - June 2013 by Tom Udall
