Governors of five states that are home to the lesser prairie chicken, including Governor Susana Martinez of New Mexico, say they're disappointed the federal government has proposed listing the bird as threatened.
However they said they're encouraged that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service isn't proposing listing the lesser prairie chicken as endangered. A final decision on a listing is expected this fall.
Some ranchers, wind farms and others have worried that listing the bird as threatened could hurt their operations by leading to more regulations on the bird's habitat.
The governors of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas released a statement Thursday saying that conservation efforts by their states, along with commitments from industry leaders and landowners, to address risks to the bird should support a decision not to list the species as threatened.