Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter says the federal government’s latest weapon trained on the shale oil and gas industry is an unassuming, somewhat colorful 1.6-pound chicken.

The secretive Tympanuchus pallidicinctus, about a 10th the size of an average Thanksgiving turkey, is known as the lesser prairie chicken. Wildlife authorities considered it an at-risk bird, according to the Audubon Society.

Porter doesn’t have anything to say against the bird. His beef is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which has formally announced plans to list the fowl as an endangered species.

Porter said doing so would greatly hinder drilling, which supports thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in state revenues. The FWS blames several factors for declining prairie chicken populations, including oil and gas extraction. But biologists think climate may be the chief factor in the bird’s survival.

In December, Porter said the FWS action is nothing less than an attempt to wipe out shale prosperity under the guise of protecting poultry. The Permian Basin, in particular, would be affected, he said. In 2011, the basin produced 282 million barrels of oil and currently accounts for 70% of Texas’ production and, nationally, one-fifth.

“We must not allow the Obama Administration to use the Endangered Species Act as a weapon against the oil and gas industry,” Porter said. “The federal government needs to learn that we here in Texas best understand our unique geological, economical and regulatory environment — and to stop wasting taxpayers’ money on frivolous lawsuits.”

The lesser prairie chicken has been considered a candidate under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since 1998. The ground-nesting bird is native to portions of Texas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Its habitats include some of the nation’s major energy fields, Porter said. And the FWS said that infrastructure associated with current petroleum production is a “significant threat” to the species.

But scientists have come to a different conclusion. A survey conducted by wildlife officials from five states found that while populations might appear low, biologists are encouraged. They believe weather conditions may explain shifts in population.

In October, the Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) said an aerial survey estimated the lesser prairie chicken population at about 37,000.

That was despite enduring the “worst single year drought in recorded history,” said Sean Kyle, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wildlife diversity biologist in Lubbock.

The habitat conditions were about the same as in the 1930s and the chickens appear to be maintaining and even expanding into new areas, said Bill Van Pelt, WAFWA grassland coordinator.

WAFWA’s report also noted that lesser prairie chicken numbers have increased in Kansas for the past 15 years and declined in the south, including Texas.

“Biologists believe this expansion may represent a northward shift in the population of the species caused by climatic conditions associated with changing precipitation patterns,” the group said.

Porter blasted the notion of listing the bird as endangered, saying it would make drilling “all but impossible” in economically thriving regions such as the Permian.

“One-size-fits-all regulation doesn’t work, and thinly veiled attempts to control energy production masquerading as environmentalism don’t fool anyone,” he said.

One backer of the FWS move is The WildEarth Guardians, which has actively fought fracing operations in a number of states and through lawsuits. Wild Earth was also behind a petition to list the Spot-Tailed Earless Lizard under the Endangered Species Act.

“Not coincidentally, the range of this particular lizard includes portions of the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas, which is emerging as one of the top oil and gas producing regions in the country,” Porter said. “Production in the nine-field formation is steadily increasing, reporting 310,370 barrels of oil a day in July of this year, compared with 120,532 barrels a day in July 2011.”

WildEarth has sued the FWS to list the lesser prairie chicken as “threatened” or “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act. The group says the chicken is threatened by habitat loss and degradation from livestock grazing, agriculture, oil and gas extraction and “unnatural fire and fire suppression.”