"The Trump administration said it found a “serious defect” in the Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2022 listing decision for the bird." 

"A Texas-based federal judge assented to a Trump administration request Tuesday and ended Endangered Species Act protections for the lesser prairie chicken.

In an unusual ESA plot twist, U.S. District Judge David Counts vacated the Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2022 rule determining the animal needs federal protections after the agency itself said it had found a “serious defect” in the listing.

“Fish and Wildlife’s concession points to serious error at the very foundation of its rule,” Counts reasoned in his opinion, adding that “mere remand would not cure this error.”

Environmental groups that support continued federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken had urged the judge to keep the 2022 listing in place while FWS tried to fix the alleged problems."

Michael Doyle and Scott Streater report for E&E News August 13, 2025. [2]