Lesser Prairie-Chicken

Proposed National ParkNew Mexico
A pair of lesser prairie-chickens in New MexicoPhotograph: larry1732 on Flickr, CC BY 2.0
All proposed National ParksLesser Prairie-ChickenNo active campaign
Location
New Mexico
Current protection
Bureau of Land Management lands in southeastern New Mexico
Status
No active campaign
Tier
Tier 3 · Smaller national site
In the book
Not featured in Undiscovered America

Why should it be a National Park?

In the shinnery oak and sand sagebrush dunes of southeastern New Mexico, lesser prairie-chickens gather each spring on their dancing grounds before dawn, the males booming and stamping to win a mate. The bird has lost most of its range across the southern plains.

A place like this is as much a national treasure as any canyon. It deserves the protection and attention a National Park brings.

The history of National Park Campaigns

In 2010, a leaked Interior Department paper listed a 58,000-acre Lesser Prairie Chicken Preserve on federal land in New Mexico among 14 places that were good candidates for a national monument. No designation followed.

Distinct National Park attempts
0
Other designation attempts
1 (2010 prospective monument)

Sources

  • U.S. Department of the Interior, "Prospective Conservation Designation: National Monument Designations under the Antiquities Act" (2010)
  • Wikipedia, List of proposed national monuments of the United States
Know of a campaign? Tell us
  1. 2010

    An Interior Department paper lists a 58,000-acre Lesser Prairie Chicken Preserve among 14 prospective national monuments.