217 Today: A native prairie bird lost federal protection. People are still trying to save it on private land

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Mark Gardiner stands atop the "high and lonesome" hill on Gardiner Angus Ranch in Ashland, Kansas. He's put aside several thousand acres of his land as part of a conservation effort that helps the lesser prairie chicken. "The reason that this is still here today is probably a byproduct of the fact that it's not very good land for farming and to raise crops on, it's too rough, it's too sandy," Gardiner said.
  • Photo: Anna Pope / Harvest Public Media

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Today’s headlines: 

  • You may want to keep hand sanitizer, a mask and Vitamin-C on your list of essentials this winter as flu season is expected to be worse than usual.
  • The Trump administration’s spending cuts could reduce economic activity in Illinois by 10 billion dollars each year by 2029, according to a new report.
  • Several state agencies say President Trump’s tariff policies are costing Illinoisans thousands of dollars more this year.
  • The average Ameren Illinois customer will have to pay almost four dollars more per month for natural gas come January.

In today’s deep dive, lesser prairie chickens used to roam across the Great Plains by the millions. Now there’s only a few thousand. And they recently lost federal protection.


217 Today is produced by Stephanie Orellana. Reporting today contributed by Mariah Woelfel, Capitol News Illinois, Mawa Iqbal, Will Bauer and Anna Pope.

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Stephanie Orellana