Texas General Land Office calls for delisting golden-cheeked warbler from Endangered Species Act

AUSTIN (KXAN)—The legal battle over the conservation status of the golden-cheeked warbler marches on, with the Texas General Land Office and the Texas Public Policy Foundation urging the U.S. Department of the Interior to remove the songbird from the Endangered Species Act. It's a debate that started ten years ago, when the TPPF first lobbied for the bird's delisting.

The warbler is a native Texan songbird, making its home in the Ashe juniper trees that grow mainly in Central Texas. In January, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a report recommending that the U.S. Secretary of the Interior downgrade its status from endangered to threatened.

Currently, the golden-cheeked warbler is considered endangered by both the federal government and the Texas government. As a threatened species, the bird would still have protections against being killed, harmed or captured. But the TXGLO and TPPF say this still leaves costly compliance measures in place.

A letter from the TPPF claims the warbler's status has stymied land use throughout the state for over thirty years. Under federal law, land developers must apply for a permit through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop in an endangered species' habitat, and developing in a confirmed warbler habitat carries a fee of $5,500 per acre.

"For too long, Texas property owners' hands have been tied regarding making decisions on their own land because of an unsupported ESA listing of the Golden-Cheeked Warbler,” said Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham in a release from TPPF. "Based on the scientific evidence presented, I urge the U.S. Department of the Interior to completely delist the Warbler and allow Texans to reclaim their voices when it comes to decisions about their land.”

Buckingham also alleged that the golden-cheeked warbler does not meet ESA requirements. The TPPF's release claims the warbler population is 19 times larger than it was in 1990, when Texas labeled the bird as endangered.

The push has prompted backlash from environmental groups. An attorney for the nonprofit Earthjustice sent a statement to KXAN that said, "New science shows that the warbler lost over 40% of its habitat in the last 40 years, and warming temperatures pose a growing and existential threat to this species. The warbler needs the protections of the Endangered Species Act now more than ever."

Save Our Springs Alliance, a local nonprofit dedicated to protecting the Edwards Aquifer, also objected to the recommendation. In their statement to KXAN, they called efforts to delist the bird "politically motivated attacks."

Regardless of the golden-cheeked warbler's status, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says conservation efforts will continue.