Blog: Lesser Prairie Chicken Listed as Threatened

Working together, we can protect our western landscapes from further fragmentation and restore the species.

Lesser Prairie Chicken in New Mexico. http://www.flickr.com/photos/larry1732/

Development in western grasslands has fragmented so much habitat of this iconic game bird, that it can no longer be hunted in New Mexico. 

Listing any species is serious business and should only be done when the science supports such action. The administration made today’s listing decision based on sound science.

It’s incredibly important that landowners, farmers and ranchers, industry, and wildlife experts continue to sit together at the table if we are to save this iconic game bird and bring it back under state management. We hope that by working together, we can protect our western landscapes from further fragmentation and restore the species, as this will tell us a lot about the health of wildlife habitat throughout the region.

Click here to read the US Fish and Wildlife Service News Release