Administration reverses Obama and Biden protective orders
For years, the oil and gas industry and farm groups in Oklahoma were among those who fought the government’s designation of the lesser prairie-chicken as an endangered species.
The fight has ended with the Trump administration’s recent announcement that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to publish a change in the designation. Both the Obama and Biden administrations had issued proclamations to protect the bird whose habitat included parts of Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Kansas.
Farming and oil and gas groups opposed the protections, contending it interfered with farming operations, grazing of livestock and the drilling for oil and gas. Environmental groups supported the two administrations and at least one had a response filled with disappointment.
“It’s shameful that the Trump administration sees fit to sacrifice these magnificent birds for oil and gas industry profit,” said Jason Rylander, legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity Climate Law Institute. “Lesser prairie-chickens may be lost forever without Endangered Species Act protections. We’re fighting this decision to make sure they get them.”
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