Patrick Wiesner on Environment

Why do we waste effort on lesser prairie chicken regulation?

The prairie chicken case exposes a failure to legislate. The Fish and Wildlife Service is an agency created by Congress and gets all of its regulatory authority from Congress. If the lesser prairie chicken was improperly protected under the Endangered Species Act, then Congress has the power to make that agency back off. A simple law blocking use of funds to regulate the lesser prairie chicken is all you needed. They didn't get that through Congress. Instead, our delegation looked to the courts for an activist judge to make the law.