Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Threatened Status for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, determine threatened species status for the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), a grassland bird known from southeastern Colorado, western Kansas, eastern New Mexico, western Oklahoma, and the Texas Panhandle, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This final rule implements the Federal protections provided by the Act for the lesser prairie-chicken. Critical habitat is prudent but not determinable at this time. Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, we published a final special rule under section 4(d) of the Act for the lesser prairie-chicken.