Kansas Lawmakers Mull Praririe Chicken Legislation

Kansas legislative negotiators are considering a new proposal for challenging the federal government’s listing of the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species.

Three senators and three House members were meeting Thursday to draft a compromise on a bill declaring that the federal government has no authority to regulate prairie chickens in Kansas.

The Senate wanted to make it a felony for a federal employee to attempt to regulate the lesser prairie chicken or the larger and darker greater prairie chicken.

The House wanted to allow the attorney general to file lawsuits to block enforcement actions.

The compromise from Senate Republicans calls for fining federal employees up to $1,000.

A steep decline in the lesser prairie chicken population led the federal government to list it as threatened in March.