House Adopts Amendment to De-List Lesser Prairie Chicken

Statement

Today, the House of Representatives voted to add Representative Frank Lucas' (R-OK) amendment to de-list the Lesser Prairie Chicken from the "threatened species" list to the National Defense Authorization Act. Under current law, military bases in the Lesser Prairie Chicken's range must ensure any new development, expansion of facilities, or training exercises do not infringe on its habitat. Therefore, base officials must go through a consultation with Fish and Wildlife Services prior to any new activity, thereby subjecting matters of national security and readiness to the whims of federal bureaucrats. All four members of the Kansas House Delegation cosponsored the amendment, and applauded its inclusion in the bill.

"Our military installations should not have to subject our national readiness to the needs of certain animal species," Representative Kevin Yoder (R-KS) said. "Kansans are perfectly capable of improving the Prairie Chicken population through state and local efforts without putting any undue burden on our military or our state and local economies. This amendment is a victory for both our military bases and our farmers and ranchers across the state."

"I have long-opposed listing the Lesser Prairie Chicken under the Endangered Species Act because the rules unnecessarily restrict and hamper defense operations on federal land," said Representative Lynn Jenkins (R-KS). "Kansas's proud military tradition and its number of important installations -- including Ft. Riley -- benefit from huge training areas which have no encroachment issues and are some of the largest and most cost-effective in the nation. Preservation efforts should not come at the cost of our national defense preparedness and this listing is nothing more than an overreach of the Endangered Species Act."

"This important amendment will protect our military installation, farmers, ranchers, and energy producers against the devastating effects of the listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken," Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) stated. "This is not a hypothetical problem - real people will see their livelihoods damaged and, in some cases, utterly destroyed should the Obama Administration be allowed to go down this path."

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