Prairie Chicken Revival Fuels Push To End Bird’S Threatened Status

"WASHINGTON -- The lesser prairie chicken population appears to be on the rebound a year after the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife placed the bird in threatened status.

The news has reinvigorated opposition to the bird’s status in Washington, D.C., where lawmakers from Kansas are leading efforts to revoke the bird’s federal protections, which they say impose burdensome regulations and land-use restrictions on businesses and landowners.

The latest strategy by the congressional delegation from Kansas — the state that’s home to half the prairie chicken population — is to push legislation that would restrict federal officials’ use of funds to enforce the bird’s threatened species listing."
 
Lindsay Wise reports for the McClatchy Washington Bureau August 6, 2015.