Nearly every time that oil and gas operators have applied for exemptions measures aimed at protecting the endangered lesser prairie chicken, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Carlsbad Field Office has granted those requests, according to information gathered by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
The lesser prairie chicken faces a variety of threats, including habitat fragmentation. The advocacy group says that the BLM’s actions are contributing to that habitat loss. This includes granting exemptions to timing stipulations, buffer requirements and other measures.
The data PEER gathered stretches from January 2020 to April 2023, which is primarily before the lesser prairie chicken was listed as endangered. Opponents of the listing argued that industry groups were being good stewards and had reached a compromise to keep the bird off of the endangered species list.
The lesser prairie chicken has two population groups. The northern segment is listed as threatened but the southern group, which is found in New Mexico, is considered endangered.
Once an abundant prairie bird known for its mating rituals, the lesser prairie chicken has lost 90 percent of its habitat.
“These protections are entirely ineffective and will not help the Lesser Prairie Chicken’s recovery if they are simply waived,” Rocky Mountain PEER Director Chandra Rosenthal said in the press release.
She further suggested that waivers should be posted publicly and not require public records requests to obtain.
“BLM had to compile these records for PEER because the agency is not monitoring the cumulative impacts of its own enforcement of these wildlife protections,” she said.
PEER documented nearly 80 incidents where the BLM granted waivers.
The lesser prairie chicken is not the only species that has faced similar actions by the BLM, according to PEER. The advocacy group says that in Wyoming the BLM field offices approved 85 percent of the 146 industry applications for waivers to requirements aimed at protecting the sage grouse, which is not currently listed as endangered but may be added to the list in the future.
PEER and other conservation groups have called on the BLM to issue a moratorium on future waivers.
The lesser prairie chicken has found itself in a national spotlight this year as Republicans attempted to strip the endangered species protections from the bird.
