OILFIELD ENVIRONMENT
Management, Texas A&M University, and landowners, the species
listing did not occur. Conservation agreements were established
for over 650,000 acres in Texas and New Mexico. These agreements
provided a template for how development would proceed but also
gave the USFWS a comfort level that the species was no longer
imperiled. The listing proposal was withdrawn and the USFWS will
monitor compliance with the conservation agreements as well as
continue to study the species’ health.
Recently, another species listing that has the potential for greater
impact to oil and gas development in Texas and other states is the
lesser prairie chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus). This species
occurs in areas with native grasslands and prairies. Critical habitat
has still not been determined for this species and looks to be a year
away. Efforts to list this species are not new, starting back in 1995,
but accelerated over the last couple of years. Once again, the oil
and gas industry, as well as others industry groups and landowners, stepped up in an attempt to eliminate the need for listing. In
addition, multiple federal and state agencies have joined in efforts
to conserve the species through candidate conservation agreements.
Over 3 million acres throughout Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico,
Kansas, and Colorado have been enrolled in the Wester