The US District Court for the Western District of Texas has vacated the listing of the lesser prairie chicken as an endangered species. The court granted the US Fish and Wildlife Service voluntary motion to vacate the listing, while denying motions from environtal groups to intervene. New Mexico Republicans say the ruling is a victory for the state’s agricultural and oil and gas industries and reinforces a return to “commonsense policy.”
Conservationists, though, expressed bitter disappointment and said the judge ignored science and history, and is “kowtowing” to the oil and gas industry.