STATEMENT BY COMMISSIONER SID MILLER CALLING FOR THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO END ABUSE OF THE FEDERAL ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT (4/7/2025)

“The Endangered Species Act—once a vital tool for genuine conservation—was twisted into a weapon against rural America by the Biden Administration and their radical 30x30 land grab agenda. Time and again, I’ve fought back against their reckless misuse of this law—whether it was the listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken, the proposed expansion of the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, or the current proposed listing of the Monarch Butterfly. These heavy-handed decisions blatantly disregarded the successful, voluntary conservation efforts led by Texas landowners, ranchers, and energy producers. Instead of supporting these initiatives, the federal government chose to punish them, strangling rural economies, overburdening agricultural producers, and sidelining crucial land needed for energy development, all while achieving little to improve outcomes for the species in question.

Now, under the leadership of the Trump Administration, we have a genuine opportunity to set things right. I proudly stand with U.S. Representative August Pfluger in urging Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to promptly remove the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard and Lesser Prairie Chicken from the endangered species list. I also strongly advocate for the removal of the Eastern Monarch Butterfly from consideration under the Endangered Species Act. This fight is about more than reversing federal overreach—it’s about restoring common sense, revitalizing rural economies, and reigniting America’s energy and agricultural engines.

We must end the practice of sidelining productive land under the false banner of conservation and return it to the hardworking people who know how to care for it best. Putting America First begins with unshackling rural America and trusting its greatest stewards—the farmers, ranchers, and producers who live and work closest to the land—to manage it with the wisdom and responsibility they have demonstrated for generations.”