Current work in wildlife, rivers, public lands, and climate

The continued decline of the bird’s population throughout its five-state territory also adds greater urgency to list the Lesser Prairie-chicken. The report declines in all five states in the prairie-chicken’s range, and a new threat – hybridization with greater prairie-chickens – in Kansas. When the lesser prairie-chicken was determined to warrant listing in 1998, the Service acknowledged that this grouse species occupied less than 10% of its former range. Population declines and further range reduction have continued over the past five years.