Thursday, March 27, 2014

2 conservation groups backing prairie chicken plan

In the final days approaching the potential listing of the lesser prairie chicken as either an endangered or threatened species, two wildlife conservation organizations have partnered to provide $5 million to assist landowners in preserving habitat for the grassland grouse. On Friday, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, announced it is partnering with Pheasants Forever, a national wildlife conservation organization, to jointly invest $5 million over three years to support technical assistance, including hiring non-federal field conservationists to help farmers and ranchers voluntarily maintain and improve lesser prairie chicken habitat in the Southern Great Plains. The five states included are Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico and Colorado. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is set to decide on Monday whether the species could be listed as either endangered or threatened. Endangered means any species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Threatened means any species that is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range...more

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