Photo by Joseph Richards
Two distinct population segments of the lesser prairie-chicken have been delisted under the Endangered Species Act, after being listed back in 2023.
The TPWD Upland Game Bird Program Leader, Patrick Schutz, said lesser prairie-chicken populations in Texas have declined significantly from their historic levels.
“TPWD continues to work with landowners, NGOs, and other partners to implement conservation minded land management practices in the lesser prairie-chicken range,” Schutz said. “These efforts are ongoing.”
Schutz said the decline in lesser prairie-chicken populations is of major concern to TPWD, and there are currently no discussions for implementing and opening a hunting season for these birds.
According to the Acting Assistant Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Communications Aislinn Maestas, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the northern and the southern distinct population segments of the lesser prairie-chicken from the federal list of threatened and endangered wildlife, in response to a court order. As a result of the court’s order, the regulatory protections under the Endangered Species Act no longer apply to either distinct population segment of the lesser prairie-chicken.
“During the last week in February, we announced a new 12-month petition finding process with a 30-day comment period to submit any information relevant to the status of the lesser prairie-chicken or its habitat,” Maestas said. “Information is included in the Federal Register notices, which published on February 26, 2026, under docket numbers FWS–R2–ES–2021–0015 and FWS–R2–ES–2025–1661.”
When asked about estimated population totals and their trends, which might warrant the delisting of lesser prairie-chicken from a biological standpoint, Maestas declined to respond with any data.
“There is nothing new to report on population numbers, as there have not been any range-wide surveys for the past 4 years for the lesser prairie-chicken,” Maestas said.
The Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Sid Miller, called the removal of the lesser prairie-chicken from the federal Endangered Species Act list a long-overdue victory for Texas farmers, ranchers, and energy producers.
The lesser prairie-chicken currently occupies a five-state range that includes portions of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and portions of the Texas Panhandle. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, lesser prairie-chickens once numbered in the hundreds of thousands or even millions, across nearly one hundred million acres. Their populations have declined drastically due to habitat loss and fragmentation, and the Service estimates that lesser prairie-chicken habitat has diminished across its historical range by about 90 percent.
Lesser prairie-chickens need large tracts of native grasslands and prairies to thrive, and their annual reproductive success is directly tied to precipitation patterns.
