The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a final decision to remove the lesser prairie chicken from the endangered species list.
Bending to litigation brought by farmers, ranchers, the oil and gas industry, the federal agency dropped the lesser prairie chicken’s northern distinct population from the roster of threatened species. The bird’s southern distinct population is losing its designation as endangered.
The endangered species designation restricted land management activities, such as cattle grazing, brush management, and oil/gas development, on private land within the bird's habitat. The bird’s range covers a portion of the Permian Basin along the New Mexico-Texas state line and extends into parts of Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
Critics of the 2022/2023 federal listing of the lesser prairie chicken (LPC) as threatened or endangered argued that placing heavyhanded restrictions on agricultural, oil, and gas operations, potentially violated property rights and hindered voluntary conservation efforts by farmers, saying the federal protections would severely limit, or 'lock down,' land use for agriculture, and affect the livelihoods of producers in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
In April and August 2025, federal courts in Texas vacated the Biden-era rule that listed the bird as endangered/ threatened, agreeing that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) did not properly consider the economic impacts on farmers.
At that time, Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller issued a statement regarding the previous court ruling and praised the decision to reverse the listing of the bird.
“This is a big win for Texas, and one we fought hard to get,” Miller said. “From day one, I’ve pushed back against Biden’s federal overreach because it was wrong for our farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. This court decision is more than just a legal victory. We stood our ground, and we won.” Miller stated that he reaffirmed his commitment to “defending Texas agriculture from federal overreach and said his office will continue to monitor any future actions by the FWS regarding the lesser prairie chicken, or any other reckless misuse of federal law that endangers the livelihood of rural Texans.”
Opponents of the decision say that the Lesser Prairie chicken may be forever lost without federal protections.