An environmental group is suing U.S. wildlife managers, saying they have failed to protect a rare grouse found in one of the country's most prolific areas for oil and gas development.
A lawsuit filed Tuesday says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is nearly five months late in releasing a final rule outlining protections for the lesser prairie chicken.
The Fish and Wildlife Service in 2021 proposed adding a Texas and New Mexico population to the endangered species list and a separate population found elsewhere in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado to the threatened list.
Grouse are also found in Arizona's mixed conifer and aspen forests above 8,500 feet, primarily in the White Mountains and on the San Francisco Peaks.
The Center for Biological Diversity claims decades of stalling by the government is threatening the bird.