KANSAS CITY— The U.S. government won’t appeal recent court rulings that stripped the lesser prairie chicken of federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The Fish and Wild Service said Wednesday that the Justice Department filed a motion Tuesday to dismiss its appeal of rulings in Texas. The rulings found that Fish and Wildlife failed to make a proper evaluation of a multi-state conservation plan when it listed the lesser prairie chicken as threatened.

Kansas Senator Pat Roberts  said this wouldn’t be the last of the Obama Administration’s regulatory agenda. “I have said all along that with a little rain, we will see the lesser prairie chicken population bounce back. As we have come to expect with the Obama administration, they never let common sense get in the way of an costly regulation.”

Kansas First District Congressman Tim Huelskamp celebrated the announcement.

“After years of leading the fight against the Fish and Wildlife Service’s rule, starting even before the rule was in place, I am thrilled by this decision,” Huelskamp said. I appreciate the support and help from those in the agriculture industry like the Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Natural Resources Conference, members of the energy industry, and members of the Kansas delegation in challenging the Obama Administration attempted takeover.

“Most Washington bureaucrats and attorneys have never farmed, raised livestock or worked an oil rig. They do not understand that state and local governments, and business owners themselves, care about the environment.

Fish and Wildlife says that despite dropping the appeal, it “intends to reassess the status of the species based on the court’s ruling and the best available scientific data.”

Oil and gas groups opposed the threatened listing, saying it would cost companies millions.

The lesser prairie chicken lives in Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Colorado.

The AP contributed to this report.