II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2677 

To reverse the listing by the Secretary of the Interior of the lesser prairie 

chicken as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 

1973, to prevent further consideration of listing of the species as a 

threatened species or endangered species under that Act pending implementation of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ 

Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-Wide Conservation Plan and other conservation measures, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2014 

Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mr. COBURN, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. MORAN, 

and Mr. ROBERTS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To reverse the listing by the Secretary of the Interior of 

the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species under 

the Endangered Species Act of 1973, to prevent further 

consideration of listing of the species as a threatened 

species or endangered species under that Act pending 

implementation of the Western Association of Fish and 

Wildlife Agencies’ Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-Wide 

Conservation Plan and other conservation measures, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lesser Prairie Chicken 

3 Voluntary Recovery Act of 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. IMPLEMENTATION OF LESSER PRAIRIE-CHICKEN 

5 RANGE-WIDE CONSERVATION PLAN AND 

6 OTHER CONSERVATION MEASURES. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) CANDIDATE CONSERVATION AGREE9 MENTS.—The terms ‘‘Candidate Conservation 

10 Agreement’’ and ‘‘Candidate and Conservation 

11 Agreement With Assurances’’ have the meaning 

12 given those terms in— 

13 (A) the announcement of the Department 

14 of the Interior and the Department of Com15 merce entitled ‘‘Announcement of Final Policy 

16 for Candidate Conservation Agreements with 

17 Assurances’’ (64 Fed. Reg. 32726 (June 17, 

18 1999)); and 

19 (B) sections 17.22(d) and 17.32(d) of title 

20 50, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 

21 the date of enactment of this Act). 

22 (2) RANGE-WIDE PLAN.—The term ‘‘Range23 Wide Plan’’ means the Lesser Prairie-Chicken 

24 Range-Wide Conservation Plan of the Western Asso25 ciation of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, as endorsed by 

26 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service on OctoVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:40 Jul 31, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2677.IS S2677

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1 ber 23, 2013, and published for comment on Janu2 ary 29, 2014 (79 Fed. Reg. 4652). 

3 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of the Interior. 

5 (b) PROHIBITION ON TREATMENT AS THREATENED

6 OR ENDANGERED SPECIES.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any prior 

8 action by the Secretary, the lesser prairie chicken 

9 shall not be treated as a threatened species or en10 dangered species under the Endangered Species Act 

11 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) before January 31, 

12 2020. 

13 (2) PROHIBITION ON PROPOSAL.—Beginning on 

14 January 31, 2020, the lesser prairie chicken may 

15 not be treated as a threatened species or endangered 

16 species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

17 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) unless the Secretary pub18 lishes a determination, based on the totality of the 

19 scientific evidence, that conservation (as that term is 

20 used in that Act) under the Range-Wide Plan and 

21 the agreements, programs, and efforts referred to in 

22 subsection (c) have not achieved the conservation 

23 goals established by the Range-Wide Plan. 

24 (c) MONITORING OF PROGRESS OF CONSERVATION

25 PROGRAMS.—The Secretary shall monitor and annually 


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1 submit to Congress a report on progress in conservation 

2 of the lesser prairie chicken under the Range-Wide Plan 

3 and all related— 

4 (1) Candidate Conservation Agreements and 

5 Candidate and Conservation Agreements With As6 surances; 

7 (2) other Federal conservation programs admin8 istered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv9 ice, the Bureau of Land Management, and the De10 partment of Agriculture; 

11 (3) State conservation programs; and 

12 (4) private conservation efforts. 

Æ 


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