Lesser prairie-chicken ruling creates uncertainty, conservation banker says

A court ruling taking the lesser prairie-chicken off the endangered species list has conservation banker Wayne Walker at a standstill.

In a 2024 interview with the Odessa American, Walker, the principal of Common Ground Capital LLC, said instead of trying to develop land they are trying to conserve or restore habitat. His group finds ranchers that have lesser prairie-chickens.

“But we do other species, too. We spend a bunch of money to figure out if the birds are there and what we can do to improve their habitat and we get the land approved by the Fish and Wildlife Service. We sell the mitigation credits to energy industry folks who are trying to offset their impacts,” Walker said.

According to the High Plains Journal, U.S. District Judge David Counts reversed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife