The Interior Department is asking a federal judge to strike down its own Endangered Species Act determination for the lesser prairie chicken, citing a “serious defect” in the 2022 listing that should prompt full reconsideration of the bird’s status.
In a Wednesday filing before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Interior and the Fish and Wildlife Service argued the agency erred in establishing two distinct population segments with different protective status across the grassland bird’s habitat in the southern Great Plains.
The mistake was related to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s determination that both subpopulations were “significant,” a finding that it now says was a substantial misapplication of the ESA, according to the filing.
“The Service’s confession that the [distinct population segment] policy was improperly applied amounts to a serious substantive defect because it calls into question the very foundation of the listing decision,” it stated. Officials said FWS anticipates publishing a new determination regarding the species’ ESA status by Nov 30, 2026.
