What Happened
On Tuesday, August 12, 2025, a federal district court vacated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS’s) listing of the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) (LEPC) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In May 2025, the USFWS informed the court that it had erred when it listed the species in 2022 as two distinct population segments, and the court determined this error to be a “serious, foundational defect in the final rule” (Court Order).
Why It Matters
This court order is the latest in a series of USFWS findings and district court decisions regarding the listing status of the LEPC since it was first petitioned in 1995. Although the court’s order is effective immediately, we expect the USFWS to officially remove the LEPC from the list of ESA-protected species soon, likely with a public notice or interim final rule published in the Federal Register. The vacated listing also likely reanimates the process of addressing a 2016 petition to list the LEPC. The USFWS anticipates making a new finding on the 2016 listing petition in about 18 months (by early 2027).
Implications
With this court order, the LEPC is no longer a protected species under the ESA. Some things to consider moving forward:
- This species no longer triggers federal interagency consultation under Section 7. If you have a Biological Assessment or Biological Opinion in progress, you…
