On September 8, wildlife advocacy groups launched a legal challenge to bring back federal safeguards for the lesser prairie chicken after a Texas court decision eliminated the bird’s protected status. The Center for Biological Diversity and Texas Campaign for the Environment are challenging a decision that removed safeguards put in place in 2022. The Texas court ruling came after the Trump administration claimed there was a “fundamental error” in the original listing. The Texas judge sided with this argument and removed the endangered species safeguards without conducting a formal hearing, even though environmental groups had twice requested to join the … Continue reading Wildlife Groups Appeal Texas Court Ruling as Lesser Prairie Chicken Population Drops 90%, Only 32,000 Remain