Kansas Attorney, Kris Kobach is suing the Biden Administration over the Lesser Prairie Chicken. Kobach has now joined the states of Texas and Oklahoma in claiming the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service broke the law by designating that bird as a threatened species in Kansas under the Endangered Species Act. The lawsuit contends the agency did not consider the preexisting and ongoing voluntary measures to protect the Lesser Prairie Chickens and restricts personal property rights it also argues recent population drops are due to drought and numbers historically rebound once rain returns.
In November of last year the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the listing of some Lesser Prairie Chicken populations as endangered, Kansas was included in the threatened population. In late January, the Kansas Senate, on a voice vote, adopted a resolution to “disapprove the designation of the Lesser Prairie Chicken as a threatened species.” the resolution supported the five Kansas Congressional Republicans and their efforts to “return control to the farmers, ranchers and energy producers of Kansas.
