Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt issued the following statement related to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announcement today that it is dropping efforts to list the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species:
“Today’s announcement by the Fish and Wildlife Service that it is dropping its effort to list the lesser prairie chicken as a ‘threatened’ species is good news for private property rights, the rural Kansas economy and common sense. Our lawsuit challenging the sue-and-settle tactics by special interest groups that spurred this folly in the first place remains pending, and before we resolve that case we want assurances that the federal government will not later change its mind on the lesser prairie chicken or merely shift its regulatory zeal to another species. “
The Kansas lawsuit is State of Oklahoma, et al. v. Department of Interior, et al., in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Case No. 1:15-cv-252-EGS.
