OKLAHOMA CITY—Oklahoma must act quickly to protect the habitat of the lesser prairie chicken in western Oklahoma to have any chance of keeping the bird from being listed as a threatened or endangered species, a state Senate leader said Friday.
Sen. Mike Shulz, the co-chairman of the Endangered Species and Economic Development Task Force, said he’s convinced it’s not too late to keep the stocky, ground dwelling bird off the list.
“I wouldn’t say that we’re too late, but I’d say we certainly need to get on the stick,” said Shulz, R-Altus.
Many lawmakers, particularly those in western Oklahoma, are concerned the potential listing of the lesser prairie chicken could harm the burgeoning wind energy industry. Representatives of the transportation, utility and oil and natural gas industries also have voiced concern about how the bird’s listing could be detrimental to their growth in western Oklahoma.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is conducting a study to determine if the bird should be listed under the Endangered Species Act. Its natural habitat is prairie grasslands in New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
“We are going to be very proactive, and we intend to get those numbers up so there’s no need to put this species on the list,” said Garry Sherrer, Oklahoma’s secretary of the environment.
Sherrer has formally requested a 24-month extension to the Wildlife Service’s timeline for determining the bird’s status, but Dan Ashe, the newly confirmed director of the federal agency, has indicated that granting an extension could be difficult.
The most important steps Oklahoma could take is to improve the native grasslands that make up the bird’s natural habitat, said Steve Sherrod, executive director of the University of Oklahoma’s George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center.
“Our grasslands are in poor condition,” Sherrod said. “More good, quality habitat is what’s going to increase your chicken numbers.”
Lawmakers also could take steps to reduce the number of eastern red cedar trees in western Oklahoma, which threaten the bird’s habitat because they instinctively avoid trees and other tall structures that could provide cover for predatory birds, said Sam Fuhlendorf, a professor of ecology and natural resources at Oklahoma State University.
Fuhlendorf urged lawmakers to consider ways to encourage more prescribed burns to eliminate the trees, which are considered an invasive species in Oklahoma.
