WildEarth Guardians

Friday, February 1, 2008
Gunnison's Prairie Dog Warrants Federal Protection

Feds Determine that Gunnison's Prairie Dog Needs Protection in Portion of its Range
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

Santa Fe, NM-The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notified WildEarth Guardians today that it will add Gunnison’s prairie dogs to the list of candidates for Endangered Species Act protection with a twist: the Service will only add those prairie dogs found in the high-elevation, mountain portions of the species’ range. The finding was required under the terms of a lawsuit settled with WildEarth Guardians, scientists, and additional conservation groups over a petition filed in 2004 requesting listing of all Gunnison’s prairie dogs.

“We’re pleased that the Service is finally recognizing that the Gunnison’s prairie dog is in serious trouble,” stated Dr. Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians. “But the feds have split the baby here: having declined by 98-99 percent in less than a century, all Gunnison’s prairie dogs are in trouble and need the safety net provided by the Endangered Species Act,” stated Rosmarino.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s finding will be published in the Federal Register next week. The Service determined that Gunnison’s prairie dogs warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act across 40% of their range. In an unusual finding, the Service decided that Gunnison’s prairie dogs in mountain habitat in Colorado and New Mexico warrant Endangered Species Act listing. The finding would leave Gunnison’s prairie dogs in prairie habitats in Arizona, Utah, and portions of Colorado and New Mexico off the candidate list. Candidacy does not provide legal protections, only a formal determination that a species warrants federal listing.

“While today’s finding was important in getting us part of the way there, we will work on getting actual federal protection across the entire range of the Gunnison’s prairie dog. This species has dwindled by 98% in less than a century. Time is running out,” stated Rosmarino.

The Service reports declines from 24 million acres occupied by Gunnison’s prairie dogs in 1916 to only about 340,000-500,000 acres occupied at present. This equates to a decline of 98-99% across the species range. Only 3.6 percent of suitable habitat in the montane portion of this species’ range is occupied by the animal, and only 18.3 percent of the prairie portion of its range is occupied.

The finding only examined whether the Gunnison’s was imperiled in the current range of the species, in line with a controversial Interior Solicitor memo released in March 2007. Prior to this memo, the Service looked at whether a species was threatened throughout its natural (historic) range. Had this policy been in place throughout the 34-year history of the Endangered Species Act, the bald eagle, grizzly bear, and gray wolf likely would never have enjoyed the law’s protections.

The Service found that the Gunnison’s prairie dog warrants listing in central and southcentral Colorado and northcentral New Mexico. While the agency did not recognize that there are two subspecies of prairie dogs (the Gunnison’s and the Zuni subspecies), the lines it drew demarcating where the Gunnison’s prairie dog warrants protection versus where it does not warrant protection appear to correspond with subspecies boundaries. See below the map that the Service will publish in the Federal Register next week.

The Service determined that the Gunnison’s prairie dog was in the highest listing priority category given high-magnitude, imminent threats. Of the 282 species that are already candidates for listing, 120 others are also in this highest priority category.

The Gunnison’s prairie dog had previously been denied protection under the Endangered Species Act in a decision issued in February 2006. However, WildEarth Guardians challenged that decision in part because Julie MacDonald was responsible for forcing agency biologists to change the finding from positive to negative, thus denying all Gunnison’s prairie dogs protection. After national media exposure and a congressional investigation into MacDonald’s interference in endangered species decisions, she resigned in May 2007.

The Gunnison’s prairie dog finding comes on the eve of Prairie Dog Day - a western twist on Groundhog Day. WildEarth Guardians released a report today entitled “Report from the Burrow: Forecast of the Prairie Dog,” which is a report card evaluating the performance of federal and state agencies responsible for ensuring prairie dogs and the wildlife that depend on them do not disappear.

Read the Service's Gunnison’s Prairie Dog finding (PDF) (opens in new window)

Gunnison’s Prairie Dog Distribution Note: Only montane populations were designated as a candidate for listing