Mullin Re-Introduces Legislation Limiting Regulatory Overreach

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 4, 2015

Congressman Mullin Re-introduces Legislation to Limit Regulatory Overreach

WASHINGTON – Congressman Markwayne Mullin (OK-02) on Monday introduced The Lesser Prairie Chicken Voluntary Recovery Act. The bill aims to stop an administrative overreach by the federal government and enhance state and private sector conservation efforts of the lesser prairie chicken.

“Unfortunately, the federal government has once again crossed its regulatory bounds,” said Mullin, a second-term member of Congress. “There is no need to federalize protection of every species at the loss of state jurisdiction and the disruption and isolation of local communities.”

In 2012, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed a rule to list the lesser prairie chicken as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, which may lead to more federal regulatory burdens on western communities.

In response, western state and local officials made enormous efforts to protect the lesser prairie chicken in order to prevent the need for final listing. As a result, an historic amount of land was enrolled into conservation projects by both private landowners and industries — nearly 14 million acres under various agreements. Despite this achievement, FWS listed the species as threatened, leading to unnecessary limitations on businesses and communities in impacted states.

Mullin’s bill wouldreverse the listing for five years, allowing state and private sector conservation projects and the committed financial resources a fair and reasonable amount of time to work.

The FWS would continue to monitor progress on conservation efforts, report to Congress on this progress annually, and ultimately maintain the authority to list the species if conservation efforts do not produce the anticipated results.

“This good government bill reestablishes the priority role that the states should play in conserving our natural resources,” Mullin added.  “Even more, it incentivizes state governments and the private sector to create effective public-private partnerships to protect vulnerable species with the confidence that their efforts will be rewarded.”

Oklahoma officials agree that Mullin’s plan will benefit local efforts.

“The State of Oklahoma believes that the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Range Wide Plan (RWP) provides enough assurances and reduces threats to the lesser prairie chicken that a listing under the Endangered Species Act was not necessary,” said Tyler Powell, who serves as deputy secretary of environment for the State of Oklahoma. “We support and applaud the efforts of Congressman Mullin to delist the species and allow time for the RWP to work. The work that has been carried out by private land owners and industry shows how a voluntary state based program can be a new option to conserve species of greatest conservation need.”

The bill, H.R. 659, will move to the House Committee on Natural Resources for consideration.

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