Press Release

To date, eight landowners in Oklahoma and New Mexico have signed candidate conservation agreements with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to improve habitat for the bird over an 80,000-acre area. Candidate conservation agreements cover species that are not yet listed under the Endangered Species Act, but are considered candidates for listing. In return, the landowners receive some compensation to cover expenses incurred by management changes that benefit wildlife.

More than 50 additional landowners have expressed interest in signing such agreements, but there is not sufficient funding to expand the program throughout the region that also includes Colorado, Kansas, and Texas. The Western Governors’ Association, which helps coordinate the working group’s activities, has requested Congress include additional funding for these agreements in the Interior Department’s appropriations bill, which is being negotiated between House-Senate conferees and the administration.

"Seventy percent of this bird’s habitat is on private land. If we are going to make real strides in reversing the decline of this bird, it is going to take the involvement and expertise of the people who can make the most difference–landowners," said Sylvia Gillen, WGA program manager.

Jim Weaver, a rancher from the Portales area who has signed a candidate conservation agreement, said many in the agricultural community are providing habitat for the lesser prairie chicken and other species, but it can be costly.

"The problem is it boils down to money. If there’s no money, nothing’s going to happen," Weaver said, noting the tremendous downturn in agricultural prices and increased costs for maintaining a ranching operation. "To expect the rancher to pick up the tab to fix what’s happened to the environment over the past 150 years is an unrealistic view."

Stephanie Harmon of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Oklahoma said there are three key benefits landowners gain from signing a conservation agreement.

• It will pay for permanent improvements to range land.
• Landowners who commit to improving range conditions are protected from any future regulatory action if the bird is listed as a threatened or endangered species.
• Range improvements may also benefit other species, such as quail, from which landowners can earn money with hunting leases.

Landowners toured the Weaver ranch today to learn what he is doing to improve habitat under his conservation agreement. Yesterday they heard updates on the status of the lesser prairie chicken population, including scientific studies that are underway to determine the impacts of such factors as habitat, predators, drought and genetics. They discussed what they are planning to do or could do to improve the bird’s habitat, while maintaining the economic viability of their operations and communities.

Some communities and landowners are attracting bird watchers during the prairie chicken’s spring mating season, when males lure females by making a "booming" noise and stomping their feet.

"People love prairie chickens, and you’re poised perfectly to take advantage of it...to show people your wildlife and what farming is like," Harmon said. "People are willing to pay hundreds of dollars--thousands of dollars--to see prairie chickens,"

Joann Harwell, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce in Perryton, Texas, said communities in the Texas panhandle are working to attract more people interested in eco- and heritage-tourism.

"We’re learning how to work with landowners to allow that (tourism) to happen and, at same time, how to bring in those visitors who want to experience rural living," Harwell said, emphasizing that it’s an economic opportunity for communities and a way "to keep our way of life."

New Mexico State Senator Stuart Ingle in his luncheon speech Thursday said farmers, like himself, "want to stay on our land, and anything we can do to make our land better, (I’ll support). If you have more prairie chickens, your land is more valuable. I hate to put it in a commercial sense, but what’s good for the prairie chicken is good for the farmer."

Western governors have cited the lesser prairie chicken effort as an example of why they are supporting specific changes to the Endangered Species Act that will provide regulatory flexibility and funding to involve landowners in the protection and recovery of species. They are also seeking greater state involvement in the management and recovery of species, and they want a greater emphasis placed on recovering species once they are listed.

The lesser prairie chicken project is also a prime example of how the governors’ Enlibra principles for managing the environment can work by focusing on broad-based collaboration, incentives and outcomes to reach environmental goals.

For more information on the Lesser Prairie Chicken effort, the governors’ proposals for reforming the Endangered Species Act, and Enlibra, visit the WGA Web site at www.westgov.org.  Information on the Lesser prairie chicken can be found under the "Initiatives" section. Click on the High Plains Partnership for Species at Risk.

The Western Governors’ Association is an independent, nonprofit organization representing the governors of 18 states, two territories and one commonwealth. Through their Association, the Western governors identify and address key policy and governance issues in natural resources, the environment, human services, economic development, international relations and public management.

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