Agricultural News
States Submit Plan for Lesser Prairie Chicken Conservation
Wed, 25 Sep 2013 17:31:53 CDT
Five states, including Oklahoma, have submitted a plan to preserve the Lesser Prairie Chicken in hopes the Fish and Wildlife Service will not recommend the listing of the bird as an endangered species.
The Lesser Prairie Chicken Range-Wide Conservation plan was developed by groups from Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico who are members of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.
In a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, the group urged a close cooperation between the wildlife agencies in the states involved and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The 303-page plan has a goal of supporting a population of 67,000 birds range-wide each year.
The overall purpose of creating the plan is to allow economic development to continue while conserving the population of the Lesser Prairie Chicken.
If the plan is approved and implemented, there will be a variety of conservation efforts undertaken to maintain viable populations of the Lesser Prairie Chicken. The goal of these conservation efforts will be to minimize new surface disturbances and minimize further fragmentation of contiguous expanses of habitat. The plan also calls for removing some existing equipment and infrastructure and restoring disturbed habitat.
The plan proposes an incentive-based approach to encourage the participation of cooperative land owners.
You can read the entire plan by clicking here. You can also read the accompanying letter by clicking here.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...