US EditionTrump administration ends protections for rare dancing prairie bird
The Trump administration finalized removing protections for the lesser prairie-chicken, citing legal and scientific reasons while habitat loss remains at 90%, officials said.
- On Wednesday, the Trump administration erased endangered-species protections for the lesser prairie-chicken, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will publish a final rule in the Federal Register on Thursday.
- Industry groups pressed for delisting, arguing listings were onerous, while Trump-era wildlife agencies signaled a final move in court cases last year after protections under the Obama and Biden administrations.
- Aerial survey data show the lesser prairie-chicken averaged 32,210 across five states from 2012–2022, recovering from a 2013 low of 18,000 despite 90% habitat loss.
- Fish and Wildlife officials argued rescinding protections will ease limits on land use, while Colorado trade groups praised the decision on Wednesday.
- The Center for Biological Diversity said conservationists warn the lesser prairie-chicken may be lost without Endangered Species Act protections and stress the need for large, unfragmented native grasslands.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Trump administration axes protection for New Mexico lesser prairie chickens
The Trump administration on Feb. 25, 2026, removed Endangered Species Act protections for the lesser prairie chicken, which lives in New Mexico’s eastern scrublands, following oil and gas and agricultural challenges to those protections in court. (Courtesy of Patricia Zenone/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)The Trump administration officially on Wednesday stripped endangered species protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a species that lives …
Trump strips protections for lesser prairie-chicken, the dancing, booming grouse of the Southwest
After pecking away for years, the Trump administration Wednesday finally erased all remaining endangered species protections for the lesser prairie-chicken, whose “booming” and red-throated mating dan...
Trump strips endangered species protections for lesser prairie chicken, the dancing, booming grouse of the Southwest
After pecking away for years, the Trump administration Wednesday finally erased all remaining endangered species protections for the lesser prairie-chicken, whose “booming” and red-throated mating dance highlighted biologists’ efforts to carve out more safe habitat across the Southwest in recent decades. The charismatic grouse, whose recent habitat includes the far southeastern corner of Colorado in addition to parts of Oklahoma, Texas, New Mex…
White House removes lesser prairie-chickens from endangered list
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) — An endangered New Mexico chicken is now no longer under federal protection. The Trump administration announced Wednesday they will be stripping the lesser-prairie chicken of its endangered species protections. The bird was put on the endangered species list in 2022, following a 30 year campaign to include it. Activists worry about the [...]
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