Category Archives: Lesser Prairie Chicken

September 12, 2025 Weekly Round Up

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It has been another couple of busy weeks for agricultural law news around the country.  Let’s get caught up. *Federal judge dismisses challenge to Texas’ new foreign ownership law.  A federal judge in the Southern District of Texas has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of SB 17, the law recently passed by the Texas Legislature prohibiting citizens, businesses and governments from certain countries from owning real property in Texas.  The court held that the plaintiffs, three Chinese citizens, lacked standing to bring their claims as they are… Read More →

Federal Court Vacates and Remands Listing of Lesser Prairie Chicken Under Endangered Species Act

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The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas issued an order last week vacating the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) listing of the lesser prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act.    Factual Background   The lesser prairie-chicken is a bird historically found in parts of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. The bird has faced both habitat loss and population decline since the 1960’s, and has found itself the subject of proposed Endangered Species Act protections.  In 2014, FWS listed the lesser prairie-chicken… Read More →

August 15, 2025 Weekly Round Up

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It has been a big few weeks on the agricultural law front!  We’ve got updates on several cases we’ve been following and news on new lawsuits around the country. * Federal court vacates listing of lesser prairie-chicken.  The US District Court for the Western District of Texas had vacated the Endangered Species Act listing of the lesser prairie chicken.  I will have a full blog post explaining the ruling in detail on Monday.  [Read article here.] * Federal court upholds emissions reporting exception for farms.  The United States… Read More →

June 6, 2025 Weekly Round Up

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We’re back with a host of news and information related to agricultural law around the country. * Texas A&M AgriLife hosting webinar on New World Screwworm.  There have been a lot of questions and concerns about the New World Screwworm.  Texas A&M AgriLife Extension will host a free webinar on Monday, June 9 at 10 am CST.  [More info here.]  AgriLife also released a fact sheet on this issue.  [View fact sheet here.] *US Fish and Wildlife Services seeks Voluntary Vacatur in Lesser Prairie Chicken lawsuit.  You may… Read More →

2023 Ag Law Year in Review – Texas

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Last week, we discussed what a busy year it had been nationally for agricultural law.  To learn more, read here or listen here. This week, we are shifting our focus closer to home and looking at the biggest agricultural law issues in Texas this year. Ownership of Produced Water  The question of who owns produced water in Texas is extremely important and will have major implications for landowners and oil and gas operators across the state.  At issue is ownership of “produced water,” the water that comes out… Read More →

November 3, 2023 Weekly Round Up

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Time continues to fly as we have reached the last 60 days of the year!  There has been no shortage of agricultural law news around the country the past couple of weeks. *Texas Drone Law Upheld by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has reversed a lower court decision striking down the Texas Privacy Act, a law related to privacy and drone usage.  You may recall from this blog post, a federal district court sided with journalists… Read More →

April 7, 2023 Weekly Round Up

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It’s been another busy couple of weeks in the world of agricultural law. *State of Texas files suit challenging lesser prairie chicken listing.  The State of Texas has filed suit challenging the listing of the lesser prairie chicken as threatened and endangered pursuant to the Endangered Species Act.  The lawsuit claims the listing violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the Endangered Species and the National Environmental Policy Act.  In addition to these claims, the lawsuit alleges that this action “threats to derail” the efforts undertaken by the State and… Read More →

2022 Ag Law Year in Review – Texas

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Each year, I am surprised by the number of agricultural law developments across Texas. This year is no exception, and I believe it may be the biggest year for agricultural law that I can remember in the Lone Star state.  If you missed our review of the biggest ag law stories on the national level, click here.   High Speed Rail Has Eminent Domain Authority The Texas Supreme Court issued a divided opinion in Miles v. Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure holding that Texas Central Railroad has the power… Read More →

2022 Ag Law Year in Review – National

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I always enjoy the chance to look back over the year and recap the biggest agricultural law developments.  There was certainly no shortage agricultural law happenings in 2022.  Today, we’ll look at the national agricultural law scene, and next Monday, we will focus specifically on Texas.  If you want to hear more about some of the biggest national ag law stories of the year, click here for a podcast episode I did with my friend, Paul Goeringer.  With that, let’s get started! Carbon Contracts The topic about which… Read More →

December 2, 2022 Weekly Round Up

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Happy December! We are back with a number of updates for you with regard to agricultural law news around the country. *Lesser prairie chicken listed under Endangered Species Act.  On November 17, the US Fish and Wildlife Service issued a press release that it will be listing the lesser prairie chicken as threatened in the northern distinct population segment (including areas in southeastern Colorado, southcentral and western Kansas, western Oklahoma, and the northeastern Texas Panhandle.) and endangered in the southern distinct population segment (including areas in eastern New… Read More →