TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials say relisting the lesser prairie chicken as threatened or endangered would negatively affect the state’s economy and agricultural industry.

The Hutchinson News reports Gov. Sam Brownback, state Attorney General Derek Schmidt and state Department of Agriculture Secretary Jackie McClaskey are asking government officials to consider having Kansas landowners implement efforts to protect the lesser prairie chicken.

In a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services the officials noted that categorizing the chicken as threatened or endangered would unduly affect the state’s primary interest in controlling how the land within its borders is used.

The lesser prairie chicken was removed from the Endangered Species Act List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife after a September 2015 order from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.