El Gallina de las praderas menor Es el foco de nuevos proyectos de ley en la Cámara de Representantes y el Senado de EE. UU., donde algunos legisladores buscan eliminar permanentemente a la especie de la Ley de Especies en Peligro de Extinción (ESA). De tener éxito, esta iniciativa probablemente será catastrófica para esta acosada ave.
While listing a species under the ESA is always a last resort — and our goal should be to keep species off the list in the first place — it’s also a critical lifeline to prevent extinction. That is certainly the case for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken. It’s lost nearly 90 percent of its historic range and a whopping 99 percent of historic populations. Delisting the species will enable special interests to pursue development projects in prairie-chicken habitat unimpeded by the law.
Se trata de algo más que esta especie icónica; se trata de mantener intactas nuestras leyes fundamentales de protección de la vida silvestre. Los científicos y las limitaciones establecidas en la ley deberían determinar qué especies se incluyen en la lista, no la política.
Los desafíos que enfrenta el gallo de las praderas menor se detallan en dos proyectos de ley presentados, el Proyecto de Ley del Senado 171 y la Resolución de la Cámara 571. Esta legislación “eliminaría al gallo de las praderas menor de las listas de especies amenazadas y en peligro de extinción publicadas de conformidad con la Ley de Especies en Peligro de Extinción de 1973” y “excluiría al gallo de las praderas menor de la autoridad de esa ley”.”
Pasado problemático, futuro sombrío
After first being proposed for listing in 1994, the decision of whether or not to list the Lesser Prairie-Chicken under the Endangered Species Act was delayed for casi tres décadas until 2022.
The Lesser Prairie-Chicken — now reduced to isolated populations in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas — was listed in two separate distinct population segments (DPS): the Northern and Southern. This approach effectively allowed each population to have its own special needs considered. The Northern DPS was listed as Threatened; this population has a wider range, greater genetic diversity, and more connected habitat than its southern neighbors. With less diversity, less habitat, and fewer overall members, the Southern population was listed as Endangered. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), tasked with charting the course for the bird’s future, made no qualms about what the Southern DPS is facing: “Because the Southern DPS is currently at risk of extinction, we are listing it as endangered.”
What followed the long-awaited listing of the Lesser Prairie-Chicken was a series of creative attacks deployed to oppose the bird’s status. These efforts to undermine its protections are rooted in concerns over the habitat needed to sustain the species — habitat that is sought for unsustainable land use for agriculture and resource extraction. It’s not only the Lesser Prairie-Chicken that will suffer if these attempts are successful. They could also lead to the unraveling of the Endangered Species Act itself.
Last year, a little-used measure called the Congressional Review Act was employed to try and reverse the 2022 decision to list the bird; only a presidential veto kept their protections intact. This was the first time in United States history that an act of Congress was employed to try to reverse an ESA listing. Similar efforts were made with amendments to spending bills and other major pieces of legislation.
Los esfuerzos voluntarios no han sido suficientes
For decades before the decision to list the Lesser Prairie-Chicken was made, federal programs incentivized resting pastures and restoring agricultural lands to prairie, all in the hopes of recovering the species, which has declined sharply as its habitat has been lost and fragmented. American Bird Conservancy (ABC) itself has worked with a fantastic network of conservation-conscious landowners who have voluntarily set aside some of their lands as habitat for prairie-chickens and other species. Unfortunately, these efforts alone were not sufficient to reverse the decline.
Species conservation takes creative solutions and authentic partnerships. We are proud to work not only with private landowners, but with state agencies, agricultural operations, and dozens of congressional offices across party lines to do what is best for birds. In fact, a critical part of our work is to keep birds with declining populations like the Reinita alidorada off the list. But, we know that when a species’ chance of extinction reaches a critical tipping point, it takes the federal backstop of the ESA to make sure it does not reach the point of no return. The ESA has an incredible success rate — 99 percent of all species listed have dodged extinction, and many recover thanks to conservation efforts. Species are downlisted or delisted every year.
Dicho de otro modo, las especies no incluidas en la lista dependen de esfuerzos voluntarios y, con suerte, de protecciones estatales. Para las especies en grave declive, este enfoque no suele ser suficiente para prevenir la extinción. Cuando una especie se incluye en la lista de la ESA, se activan diversas medidas de restauración, protección, oportunidades de financiación y redes coordinadas. Los posibles daños derivados de nuevos proyectos o acciones se identifican con antelación y se mitigan. Una especie no incluida en la lista en fuerte declive tiene pocas esperanzas; una especie incluida en la lista en declive cuenta con el apoyo de recursos, experiencia y la seguridad de que tiene un 99 % de probabilidades de no extinguirse. Y más esperanza.
¿Qué está haciendo ABC y cómo puedes ayudar?
The Lesser Prairie-Chicken, a charismatic, colorful icon of the American West, deserves a chance at recovery. Because of its nature of occupying large, mostly intact grassland landscapes, Lesser Prairie-Chickens are a harbinger of the conjoined fates of many other declining grassland bird species. If we can’t bring back the prairie-chicken, we will lose countless other species from the same problems — that is, the loss, degradation, and fragmentation of our grasslands.
El ABC continuará expandiendo los programas de conservación del hábitat sobre el terreno a través de nuestros equipos regionales. En el ámbito político, estamos trabajando para implementar medidas para conservar el hábitat, reducir las amenazas e incentivar el descanso para el pastoreo en la próxima Ley Agrícola. Seguiremos trabajando con socios en las Grandes Llanuras y el Suroeste para comprender las poblaciones de aves y cómo podemos lograr que las tierras de cultivo sean productivas para las personas y la vida silvestre.
But more urgently, we have to stop these bills from passage and keep the Lesser Prairie-Chicken listed under the ESA. To do that, Congress needs to hear from you. North America has lost 3 billion birds since 1970; without standing up for those most in need, we risk far more than just the Lesser Prairie-Chicken.