Rescinding the endangered species listing of the Lesser Prairie-Chicken would put the species on a path toward extinction.

The US Senate has voted (50-48) to use the Congressional Review Act to rescind the November 2022 decision by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to list the Lesser Prairie-Chicken under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Last week the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee voted to advance a similar resolution. National Audubon Society is disappointed to see these resolutions, which undermine science-based wildlife management, advancing in Congress. The White House indicated today that President Biden would veto any such proposal that makes it to his desk.

“The science is clear — the Lesser Prairie-Chicken will disappear from our grasslands without these protections,” said Marshall Johnson, chief conservation officer, National Audubon Society. “We appreciate President Biden’s commitment to veto this resolution. Science — not politics — should dictate how we protect our nation’s threatened and endangered wildlife.”

Lesser Prairie-chicken, copyright Andrew Spencer, from the surfbirds galleries

Lesser Prairie-Chicken populations have declined by 97 percent across their range since the 1960s, one of the most precipitous among all bird life in the United States. The species is managed separately in the northern and southern parts of its range, which includes portions of five states (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico).

Read more about the history of Lesser Prairie-Chicken protections and Audubon’s response to this proposal here.