Lesser prairie chicken populations continue to increase, according to the results of recent wildlife survey released by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The latest annual breeding population survey shows an increase of about 30 percent over the previous year: 38,637 birds compared to 29,934. “The most encouraging result from the survey is the steadily increasing population trend over the last six years, which likely reflects improving habitat conditions,” said Roger Wolfe, the lesser prairie chicken program manager with WAFWA, which administers the plan. There has been a trend of population gains averaging 3,000 birds each year since 2013, when major drought conditions began to subside across the lesser prairie chicken native range that includes northwestern Oklahoma. The range-wide plan is a collaborative effort of the state wildlife agencies of Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas and Colorado along with private and public partners involved in lesser prairie-chicken conservation. The U.S.