Survey Efforts Planned for Oklahoma’s Lesser Prairie Chicken
OutdoorHub 02.17.12
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation is working to conserve the lesser prairie chicken in northwest Oklahoma. Collectively – between the Wildlife Department, other state and federal agencies, conservation organizations and industries – over $40 million has been spent on or committed to habitat management and research efforts that benefit the lesser prairie chicken.
“The Department supports responsible development and is working toward a shared goal of keeping the Lesser Prairie Chicken off the Endangered Species List,” said Doug Schoeling, upland game biologist for the Wildlife Department.
The lesser prairie chicken, a unique upland bird known for it’s “booming” call during mating, has experienced population declines for many years. The species, found in northwest Oklahoma, has struggled to survive in its native habitat due to habitat fragmentation and land use changes over time.
Lesser prairie chicken recovery efforts fall into three categories: habitat management, habitat protection and research.
To encourage habitat management practices that will aid the native bird, state and federal agencies work closely with conservation-minded landowners on habitat projects including cedar control, prescribed burning, native grass planting and fence marking / removal.
“Private landowners are key to wildlife conservation in Oklahoma, since about 95 percent of the land in Oklahoma is privately owned,” said Schoeling.
Additionally, the Wildlife Department has purchased several sections of prime habitat that will provide permanently protected areas for lesser prairie chickens. In the last three years, over 7,100 acres in Harper and Woods counties were purchased to create Cimarron Hills and Cimarron Bluff Wildlife Management Areas. Packsaddle and Beaver River, two other wildlife management areas in Ellis and Beaver counties, were expanded to include thousands more habitat acres. These lands are in key portions of the lesser prairie chicken’s range.
Finally, research initiatives like the spatial planning tool help responsible developers and planners as they search for sites where development would least impact Oklahoma’s population of lesser prairie chickens. The tool, available at wildlifedepartment.com, rates the habitat quality of land within the lesser prairie chicken range.
Data from population counts for the lesser prairie chicken has been collected for decades, and a new set of advanced population surveys will start this spring. Wildlife Department biologists and Oklahoma City Zoo personnel will conduct listening surveys from county roads in Harper, Woods, Woodward, Ellis, Roger Mills and Dewey counties. Biologists will listen for the distinctive “booming” call of the birds at preset listening locations along the roadway. This is the third year for these types of surveys, and the data gathered will be an important tool in evaluating the population.
Also, from March to May, Department biologists will use helicopters for aerial surveys throughout the lesser prairie chicken range to locate additional groups of birds.
“We are looking for birds that are not located near public roads. The more birds that we locate on these surveys, the more we can understand population status, which could help prevent the listing of the lesser prairie chicken on the endangered species list,” said Schoeling.
Surveyors will only document sightings of lesser prairie chickens, and landowners’ information will be kept confidential.
