Meetings Set for Multi-State Lesser Prairie Chicken Plan

By Texas Parks and Wildlife News

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will host a public meeting Feb. 25 in Morton, Texas, and a stakeholder meeting Feb. 28 in Austin to discuss the draft range wide conservation plan for the lesser prairie chicken. The plan represents a multi-state effort to conserve the bird and its habitat, and to address its proposed listing as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to publish a final rule on the status of the chicken in September. The range-wide conservation plan is being developed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, New Mexico Game and Fish Department, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department. The plan includes management goals and voluntary conservation programs and practices to be applied throughout the lesser prairie chicken’s range. The final plan will be submitted to the USFWS by March 31. TPWD has been soliciting feedback on the draft plan, and will continue to do so until March 8. The Morton meeting will be held at 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 25 in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Service Center at 200 West Taylor Avenue. The Austin meeting involves a diverse set of invited stakeholders, though it is open to any interested parties. It will take place at 2 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 28 at Texas Parks and Wildlife Department headquarters, 4200 Smith School Road. At the meetings, Texas Parks and Wildlife biologists will discuss the plan and answer questions about how it might be implemented in the Southern High Plains region of the state. The draft plan can be viewed on the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies website. Comments about the draft plan may be submitted via email to Jan Caufield of the Ecological Management and Research Institute at [email protected]. The deadline to submit comments is March 8.