PRATT – On March 31, the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service its third annual report detailing achievements under the Lesser Prairie Chicken Range-wide Conservation Plan. Among the highlights, WAFWA reported on the purchase of an ecologically significant property in Kansas, which permanently protects nearly 30,000 acres of high-quality lesser prairie chicken habitat.

The range-wide plan is a collaborative effort of the state wildlife agencies of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado and is administered by WAFWA. It was developed to promote conservation by providing a blueprint for lesser prairie chicken conservation through voluntary cooperation of landowners, land management agencies and industry participants. The plan allows participants to continue operations while restoring and maintaining habitat and reducing development impacts to the bird and its habitat.

“As we close out our third year of implementation, we’re really hitting our stride,” said Alexa Sandoval, director of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and chairman of the Lesser Prairie Chicken Initiative Council. “We are encouraged that despite an oil and gas industry downturn, support for this collaborative conservation approach remains strong. We commend all of our partners for their participation in the range-wide plan.”

The plan was endorsed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2013, and as part of the conservation effort, states agreed to report annually on the overall progress of the plan. Other progress report highlights include:

By the end of 2016, WAFWA was conserving 133,703 acres on 16 sites, either through fee title ownership or long-term contractual agreements. Three of those sites, totaling 33,053 acres, are permanently conserved through perpetual conservation easements or fee title ownership. The other 13 sites are in 10-year contracts with private landowners and cover 100,650 acres.

Most significantly, a 29,718-acre land acquisition by WAFWA was finalized in June 2016, permanently protecting high-quality habitat in the sand sagebrush ecoregion. The property was purchased from a willing seller and will continue to be managed as a working cattle ranch using livestock as the primary tool to create optimum habitat for lesser prairie chickens. In addition, 1,781 acres of privately owned native rangeland is now permanently protected in the mixed grass ecoregion. WAFWA purchased a perpetual easement on the property that protects the conservation values of the site. The easement is held by Pheasants Forever.  

The 2016 annual lesser prairie chicken aerial survey showed stable population trends. An estimated breeding population of 25,261 birds was documented in 2016, which scientists say is not statistically different from the estimate of 29,162 birds in 2015, given the variability associated with the survey methodology. Aerial surveys for 2017 are underway and will run through mid-May. Results are anticipated in early July.

In 2016, 114 industry-related projects were mitigated. There continues to be a surplus of credits available with a range-wide positive value of 71,639 units. This reflects the continued low energy prices that have slowed industry development in the region. WAFWA has focused on committing enrollment and mitigation fees for conservation contracts to benefit the bird and to ensure companies have available mitigation credit to develop as energy prices rebound. In July 2016, WAFWA developed a process to address non-payment of enrollment fees that provides several options to help companies stay enrolled in the program.

And finally, a renewed cooperative effort between the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Pheasants Forever and WAFWA will enhance program promotion, monitoring activities, and conservation planning and delivery. There was also continued effort to work with state wildlife agencies to identify and pursue research and management needs. Those activities included lesser prairie-chicken translocation efforts that moved birds from the shortgrass to sand sagebrush ecoregion.

Full details are in the annual report, which will be available on the WAFWA website at www.wafwa.org

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