The Trump administration moved to end federal protections for less prairie chicken, a flashy grouse with the misfortune of living in the southern and central grasslands that have long been sought for agriculture and energy development.
In a court filing Wednesday, officials said the Fish and Wildlife Service had erroneously made a Biden-era decision to put birds on the endangered species list.
This is the latest in the blur of actions by the White House to undermine or eliminate environmental regulations that constrain Trump's “drill, babe, drill” agenda.
And it's the latest twist in the species whose fate has been fought for 30 years.
Lesser Prairie chickens – known for their eccentric courtship displays of stamping, tail feather agitation, and “flapping,” but only about 30,000 people have fallen from hundreds of thousands or millions from historical estimates. Habitat loss is the main culprit.
In a U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, authorities said it is expected to reassess the bird's status by November 30, 2026.
The species lacks federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, but the move said “there are at least 16 different conservation efforts and programs managed by state, federal and private organizations.”
However, conservators predicted that the Fish and Wildlife Department had no obligation to rethink the species on its timeline and would have to sue to make it happen.
“The Trump administration is once again surrendering to the fossil fuel industry, ignoring healthy science and common sense, and pushing endangered species to extinction,” Jason Rylander, a lawyer at the Center for Biodiversity, said in a statement.
“Eliminating protections for endangered species' conduct is a purely political act that never stands in court,” he continued. His group intervened in the incident.
Back in 1998, federal wildlife officials discovered that fewer grassland chickens deserve conservation, but initially stated that other species were a higher priority. The bird was then caught up in a lawsuit, bouncing off a list of threatened endangered species species, then bouncing back.
In 2022, fewer prairie chickens were once again protected under President Biden. The decision divides the species into two different populations, threatening the southern part (eastern New Mexico and eastern Texas) and the north part (central Kansas and western Oklahoma, central Texas and the northeastern Panhandle).
The oil and ranch industry was sued in 2023, similar to Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma.
Now, the Trump administration has argued that the Fish and Wildlife Service is incorrect in assessing species as a clear group, and is “exactly contaminating” the decision to cite it.
The United Nations of Conservation, a major global scientific authority on species status, classifies fewer prairie chicken as vulnerable to the threatened US list.
Rylander of the Center for Biodiversity said he plans to oppose federal motions in the coming days. A battle with fewer prairie chicken has been taking place as scientists warn that the planet is facing unprecedented levels of biodiversity loss in human history.
Temperate grasslands are one of the most dangerous ecosystems in the world.
