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U.S. Senator John Cornyn Visits Permian Basin to Discuss Lesser Prairie Chicken Listing

U.S. Senator John Cornyn was in the Permian Basin on Tuesday afternoon. The Senator had a lot to say about the controversial Lesser Prairie Chicken.
By Alexa Williams
NewsWest 9

MIDLAND - U.S. Senator John Cornyn was in the Permian Basin on Tuesday afternoon. The Senator had a lot to say about the controversial Lesser Prairie Chicken.

"The most recent threat is not only to agriculture, but to transportation, to energy development and the terms to govern ourselves is the listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken as threatened," Cornyn, said. Cornyn said by keeping the species labeled as threatened, the Department of Fish and Wildlife is hurting West Texas.

"What we're trying to do is figure out how can we keep the federal government mainly the Fish and Wildlife Service from throwing a wet blanket on what is a very good thing in terms of job creation, economic development and growth of the economy here in the Permian Basin," Cornyn said.

Stakeholders who attended the meeting all seemed to agree.

"I'm tired of the government deciding that an animal is going to be over a human being," Andrews County Judge, Richard Dolenger, said.

Cornyn also added that he believes that species are improperly being listed as threatened.

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