A Biden-era endangered species designation that critics said would hamstring American energy and agricultural production has been struck down by a federal judge.

U.S. District Judge David Counts of Texas this week overturned the Biden U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2022 listing of the lesser prairie chicken under the Endangered Species Act.

“Fish and Wildlife Service,” says one news report, “admitted in the case that it erred in creating two distinct populations of lesser prairie chickens, and it failed to justify the classification of the two distinct population segments — northern and southern, Counts said.”

The ruling is especially good news for Kansas’ vital oil and agriculture industries, as reports estimate some 70% of lesser prairie chickens are in the Sunflower State.

“This is a huge win for Kansas ranchers and energy producers,” Kansas Attorney Kris Kobach, who joined in the lawsuit challenging the designation, said in a statement Friday. “The listing of the species as threatened or endangered would have crippled oil and wind energy production and would have limited where and when Kansas ranchers could graze cattle on their own property.

“And it was based on manipulated numbers dividing the species into subgroups to create the impression the species was threatened—when in fact drought had simply caused populations in some areas to drop, while in other areas the numbers were stable.  I’m grateful that the court saw it our way.”

Texas Congressman August Pfluger joined in the delight over the ruling, saying in a statement:

“The Biden Administration’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service weaponized the Endangered Species Act to target American energy production in the Permian Basin, using species like the Lesser Prairie Chicken as one of their tools. These listings were completely misguided, ignoring the vigilant conservation efforts already underway in West Texas. …

“I applaud the court’s decision as a major step forward in ending the years-long attack on farmers, ranchers, and energy producers across Texas. We can – and must – protect important species without sacrificing the livelihoods of our local and rural communities that power our nation.”

“Under the Biden Administration,” Pfluger’s office writes, “the Lesser Prairie Chicken was listed as an endangered species, ignoring the conservation efforts already being made by Texas and Kansas farmers, ranchers, and agricultural and energy producers. The efforts resulted in net acreage conservation gains for the Dunes Sagebrush Lizards’ habitat and increased the Lesser Prairie Chicken population.”

In April, Pfluger and Kansas Rep. Tracey Mann had written a letter asking the Trump administration to lift the endangered species listing for both the the lesser prairie chicken and the dunes sagebrush lizard, the latter of which straddles the Texas/New Mexico border.

“These designations,” their letter reads, “have imposed unnecessary regulatory burdens on our rural communities, threatening the vital work of hardworking farmers, ranchers, and energy producers while disregarding the proven success of the state and privately led conservation efforts.”