Conservationists and cattle ranchers are working together to restore grassland for the lesser prairie chicken. The bird used to roam Kansas but has lost most of its habitat to crop production.
Greg Kramos / USFWS
Because lesser prairie chickens need extensive tracts of open, well-managed prairie to survive in a state where 97% of land is privately owned, its fate is largely in the hands of ranchers.
Greg Kramos / USFWS
U.S. President Joe Biden vetoed legislation meant to undermine federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a previously ubiquitous bird that is now endangered in several states.
Greg Kramos / USFWS
Attorney General Kris Kobach aligned Kansas with Texas and Oklahoma in a lawsuit crafted to block the federal government’s listing of the wild, colorful lesser prairie chicken under the Endangered Species Act.
Greg Kramos / USFWS
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach plans to sue President Joe Biden’s administration over the lesser prairie chicken, calling federal protections for the bird illegal and potentially devastating to landowners and businesses in the state.
Greg Kramos / USFWS
The Kansas Senate suspended rules and took emergency action Monday to adopt a resolution condemning federal protection of the lesser prairie chicken.
The Kansas Senate will vote on whether or not to register disapproval of federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken this week as part of a ongoing battle to strip protections from the bird.
Greg Kramos / USFWS
Kansas congressmen are trying to use a federal tool to strike down the listing of the lesser prairie chicken as threatened or endangered, saying protecting the birds would have negative consequences for Kansas’ economy.
U.S. Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas introduced legislation to prohibit the U.S. Interior Department from imposing restraints on land use through designation of the lesser prairie chicken as threatened or endangered.
Greg Kramos / USFWS
Federal wildlife officials have listed the iconic lesser prairie chicken as threatened across its Kansas habitat. The bird is in even more dire straits in the southwest, where it will be listed as endangered.
