Office of Senator Tom Udall (NM)
110 Hart Senate Office Building I Washington D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6621

New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas have recently proposed a Five State Plan—developed by state wildlife officials—with the goal of protecting the Lesser Prairie Chicken without listing it as a threatened species. This plan is inspired by and expands on New Mexico’s Candidate Conservation Agreements — where industry, government agencies and conservation groups came together to protect the Sand Dune Lizard, thereby enabling the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to not list it as an endangered species. Senator Udall supported that plan for the Sand Dune Lizard and believes that the Five State Plan, if done correctly, can be a win-win solution resulting in habitat protection and regulatory certainty for the farmers, ranchers, and the oil and gas industry. Senator Udall continues to be engaged with the Administration to ensure the Five State Plan receives proper consideration and has every opportunity to succeed in its goal. On Friday, May 4th, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced that it will reopen the comment period for an additional 45 days on the proposal to list the Lesser Prairie Chicken as a threatened species. Senator Udall encourages all New Mexicans with an interest in this decision to participate in the process by submitting comments to the FWS. Information on submitting an official comment to FWS can be found at the following link. http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/LPC.html.

Click to see the seven page federal register notice.