Sept. 12–Landowners can save the lesser prairie chicken, a panel of experts claimed Thursday.
“If we work together to get the bird recovered, there’s a good chance we can get it off the list. That’s our ultimate goal,” Ken Cearley, a stewardship manager for Texas Agricultural Land Trust, said during a forum.
The bird has been under federal protection the last six months, since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed it as a threatened species. Many landowners still have concerns about how the ruling will affect their property.
One of them, Randy Beasley, said the federal government should have placed more weight on the financial impact to human inhabitants of prairie chicken territory in the decision. He owns land in Yoakum and Cochran counties.
“They don’t consider any economic value,” he said.
Texas Agricultural Land Trust co-hosted the forum with Texas Tech’s National Ranching Heritage Center to describe options for folks who share their territory with the threatened chicken.
Those who work with the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ conservation plan, for instance, receive incentives for managing their land in a way that helps prairie chickens thrive.
“We’ve tried to develop a system that offers multiple options for landowners,” said Sean Kyle, a biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife.
About 170 companies are so far enrolled in the fish and wildlife agencies’ plan, he said.
In the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency’s Conservation Reserve Program — another option — landowners contract with the federal government so the land is not farmed or ranched.
Violating the Endangered Species Act in a way that hurts a protected animal is called “take.” Exactly what that means, though, is not always easy to define.
An attendee questioned if he could be disciplined if his grass in lesser prairie chicken territory grows longer than what the birds prefer.
Panelists responded not likely, but circumstances vary.
“If you kill a bird, it’s take. Beyond that, it’s a scale,” Kyle said. “It depends on the case and how it’s interpreted.”
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