Ranchers are paid market rate for durable conservation. Responsible energy development proceeds efficiently and predictably. And the bird and the prairie come back, in a way everyone can hold accountable. Funded by conservation dollars the government already spends. Solved once, for all.
The lesser prairie-chicken, a small grouse with an unforgettable spring dance, lives on the last native prairie in America. For thirty years the federal government has gone back and forth on protecting it, on the list, off the list, on again, off again, and every time it lands on the list it can stall multitrillion-dollar investments, energy and agriculture alike. Two national priorities stand exposed: the biggest energy buildout in a generation, aimed at this exact ground, and ranching itself, dying as a trade. Conservation as practiced cannot fix it: scattered, temporary acres lose to the clock against a bird that needs habitat on the order of half a million acres. The fix is money the government already spends, redirected into recovery credits that buy large, permanent, connected blocks of working ranchland. The bird gets a home and comes off the list for good, the buildout goes without delay, and ranchers get paid to keep ranching. Build the bird a home, and you save another endangered species: the American rancher.
Permitting certainty for energy and transmission, done in a way that restores the native prairie and settles the bird for good.
Play it for me walks you through all thirteen pages in about five minutes, and you can pause any time. Or turn the pages yourself with the round arrow at the right edge of the screen, or the ← → keys on your keyboard.
Play it for me walks you through all thirteen pages in about five minutes, and you can pause any time. Or turn the pages yourself: swipe left and right, or tap the round arrows at the bottom of the screen.