M
ore than 1,490 species of plant and animals have been listed as threatened or endangered in the U.S. since
the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was passed by Congress in 1973. Since 2007, there have been more than 1,250 petitions
fi led which can nearly double the number of listings. By law, a response to each petition has to be written by either the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) or the Commerce Department’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) within 90 days of receipt. The USFWS has primary responsibility for terrestrial
and freshwater organisms, while the responsibilities of NMFS are mainly for marine wildlife such as whales and anadromous fi sh; fi sh that ascend rivers from the sea for breeding, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary. “Action will be taken on the 1,250 petitions,” said
Jeff Goodwin, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) at Temple, during a panel discussion at the 2015 Cattle Raisers Convention. “We have 100 federally listed species, 11 candidates for listing and 117 state-listed species in Texas, although there is a small overlap between the lists,” he explained at the program ‘Ranching with the Endangered Species Act.’ According to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
(TPWD), the state list deals only with the status of the species within Texas. A federal listing means that an animal is in decline throughout its entire range, which may encompass other states or nations. “What should be of concern to all of us is a list
of 131 species being watched by a task force led by the Texas Comptrollers’ Offi ce,” Goodwin contin- ued. “The Comptroller’s offi ce is tracking species in Texas that may be subject to action under the ESA. Some of the species being tracked include several mollusks, the monarch butterfl y and the spot-tailed lizard. The state is planning to obtain data from new research on species under review so it can respond appropriately to proposed listings with the intent to prevent them.”
Lesser prairie chicken “ESA can cause problems for producers, but there
are opportunities for protection as well,” Goodwin said. “An example is the lesser prairie chicken (LPC), which was listed as threatened in March of last year.
The LPC is a grouse species and its range is a 5-state area (New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas) in the Southern Great Plains. It is a prairie or grassland bird that needs heterogeneous plant commu- nities, water and large expansive areas for its habitat. The average home range of an individual bird is about 4 square miles.” According to Dr. Dwayne Elmore, Oklahoma State
University, adult LPCs average 15 to 16 inches in length. They have a feather pattern of crosswise bars of brown, buff, blackish and white coloration. Elongated “ear” feathers called pinnae, erected during mating displays, are on the neck. Below the pinnae, the males have reddish, featherless areas of skin called gular air sacs, which are infl ated during mating displays.
The Working Lands for
Wildlife program is 100 percent voluntary.
“Mating displays of males are conducted on leks, which is common with many other grouse,” wrote
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