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Lesser prairie chicken may get threatened listing

Published: November 30, 2012 Comment on this article

"Energy projects, including renewable wind energy, would be placed in jeopardy, facing inevitable delay and uncertainty due to new layers of regulatory red tape," Hastings said in a statement Friday.

Federal authorities sought to ease those concerns.

"We know that we cannot restore, protect and reconnect the habitat ... without the help of private landowners," said Benjamin Tuggle, Fish and Wildlife's southwest region director.

Conservationists will work to "keep farming and ranching families on the land," he said.

The review meetings will be in February in Woodward, Okla.; Garden City, Kan.; Lubbock, Texas; and Roswell, N.M.

The lesser prairie chicken has feathered feet and a stout build. Males display brilliant yellow-orange eye combs and reddish-purple air sacs during courtship displays.

A final decision on the chicken listing is expected by November 2013.

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