Category Archives: Lesser Prairie Chicken

Court Vacates Lesser Prairie Chicken Listing Under Endangered Species Act

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In September, the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas has found that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”) acted improperly in finding the lesser prairie chicken met the requirements to be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.  The court, therefore, vacated the bird’s listing under the Act.  [Read full opinion here.] Endangered Species Act Background The Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) seeks to offer legal protection to species facing extinction by prohibiting a “take” of animals subject to the Act’s protection.  “Take” is… Read More →

Agriculutral Law: What To Watch in 2015

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As everyone is recovering from the New Year celebrations and getting back to the grindstone, I thought it would be fun to highlight a few of the major ag law issues to watch in 2015. Water Disputes Unfortunately, this issue will likely top the list every year for the near future.  Across the country we are seeing more and more water-related disputes.  In addition to the issues outlined in my 2014 Year in Review post, there are two additional issues I think will be in the forefront this year. Water… Read More →

October 3, 2014 Weekly Round Up

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I spent a good part of this week at county Farm Bureau meetings visiting with Texas agricultural producers.  Last Saturday, I was in Longview, TX for the Gregg County Farm Bureau meeting where I spoke about current Hot Topics in Agricultural Law.  Many thanks to Glenn Richardson for the invitation.  On Wednesday evening I made the drive to Huntsville for the Walker County Farm Bureau meeting where we discussed water rights in Texas.  I appreciate Carl thinking of me and including me on the program.  Welcome to those… Read More →

July 3, 2014 Weekly Round Up

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Last week I was in Denton, Texas speaking at the Denton County Agricultural Law Program.  County Extension Agent Brandon Boughen put together a great program for participants that included Wayne Hayenga on estate planning and myself discussing water law and agricultural leases.  Thanks to Brandon for all of his hard work! It has been a very busy week for news related to agricultural law.  Major decisions were issued by the New York Court of Appeals regarding local agencies’ rights to prohibit oil and gas production (read blog here) and by… Read More →

Breaking News: Lawsuit Challenges Lesser Prairie Chicken Listing

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As many expected, a lawsuit has been filed challenging the Fish and Wildlife Service’s recent listing of the lesser prairie chicken as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”).  (Read more about the listing here.) The Permian Basin Petroleum Association, along with four New Mexico counties (Chaves, Roosevelt, Eddy, and Lea), filed suit this week against the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and certain of their employees claiming that the decision to list the lesser prairie chicken as threatened under the ESA violated the Administrative… Read More →