Sierra Club Statement on Ruling Stripping Endangered Bird Species of ESA Protections

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal court in Texas has granted the Trump administration’s request to remove protections for the lesser prairie chicken under the Endangered Species Act.

The ruling came in a lawsuit by the State of Texas and various oil and gas industry groups against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its 2022 rule granting ESA protections to the species. The Trump Fish and Wildlife Service decided not to defend the lawsuit and asked the court to vacate the rule, arguing the Biden administration listing was defective. The court denied intervention by environmental groups who sought to defend the rule or prevent its vacatur, which meant no party in the lawsuit objected to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s about face or acted to protect the species. 

The Trump administration has consistently worked to undermine the half-century old law, which has protected imperiled wildlife from the fate of extinction, including bald eagles and grizzly bears.

In response, Ben Greuel, Sierra Club’s Wildlife Campaign Manager, released the following statement:

“The Trump administration has demonstrated it is no friend to wildlife. If a decision comes down to protecting an imperiled species or padding corporate bottom lines, Donald Trump will side with corporate polluters every time. This administration is creating an increasingly hostile environment towards wildlife across the country the likes of which we haven’t seen in decades, and Sierra Club will keep working to stop their anti-wildlife agenda dead in its tracks.”