Feb. 04–A New Mexico Department of Game and Fish official thinks a conservation program for the lesser prairie chicken will now have sustainability with members of the energy industry financially backing the plan.
But landowners are wary of the plan, the sentiment being they still don’t feel they have enough information about it.
A state Game and Fish press release said five oil and gas companies have voluntarily enrolled nearly 1.5 million acres of land under the plan to conserve the rare grouse, native to New Mexico and surrounding states, in an effort to prevent the bird from being federally listed as a threatened species.
This represents the first enrollment in the Lesser Prairie Chicken Range-wide Conservation Plan developed by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and state wildlife agencies in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
“It means there’s a lot of money available to do conservation work and it means it will be a long sustaining program,” said NMDGF biologist Grant Beauprez of the land pledged by the oil and gas companies.
Beauprez said landowners, who fear a listing will hinder if not shutter their operations, have been hesitant in signing up with the voluntary program because the program is financially dependent on the energy industry.
Per the plan, it is the energy companies who fund the payouts to landowners.
Chaves County rancher Gerald Mathis said he’s not too familiar with the plan and isn’t certain how much it deviates from similar programs like it.
But Mathis said he plans to wait and see what other companies and landowners will do.
“I guess if (NMDGF) keeps getting people enlisted, it’s probably worthwhile,” Mathis said.
Landowners questioned how energy companies would benefit from the program, but like landowners, Beauprez said the companies will be granted assurances by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that will allow them to carry out operations without penalty, regardless of a listing.
The USFWS, the federal agency responsible for the bird’s protection, is scheduled to make a listing decision March 30.
“They get assurances from the Endangered Species Act if the bird gets listed,” Beauprez said.
Beauprez said if the bird is listed and energy companies are not enrolled in the plan, they are subject to a consultation with USFWS, which could make them liable for the accidental killing or harming of the bird and its habitat.
He added that the consultation can be a long process that can shut down an operation while being conducted.
For landowners, payment is based on the quality of the land. Beauprez said higher quality habitat for the bird warrants larger payments.
“With the plan, there is incentive to improve your habitat,” Beauprez said. “It’s a win-win for hopefully the landowners and the chicken.”
With no landowners signed up with the plan yet, Beauprez said he hopes they will now follow the lead of the oil and gas companies.
Beauprez said he’s aware that a majority of the landowners have already signed up with a similar conservation plan, so he’s targeting those who have no protection.
“We’re making sure it’s available to them,” Beauprez said.
The NMDGF will host a few more meetings across the region to reach out to landowners before the listing is announced.
Roosevelt County rancher Wiley Teel said he hasn’t made a decision on whether to sign up with the plan.
“The only thing I didn’t care for is they gave us such a short time (to sign up),” Teel said.
He isn’t sure if the plan will benefit all operations in the region equally because he said there are some areas of the state that have higher populations of the bird but those in areas that don’t are still affected by the same policies created to protect the bird.
“It seems a little unfair to me,” Teel said. “It’s still going to be hard on some people who don’t have chickens in that area.”