WildEarth Guardians

Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Groups Ask Court for Prairie Dog Protection

Conservation Groups Decry Removal of Black-tailed Prairie Dog from Candidate List
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

Denver, CO - WildEarth Guardians and partner groups filed a lawsuit in Federal Court today challenging the U.S. Secretary of the Interior's failure to list the black-tailed prairie dog as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In 2000, the Secretary declared the black-tailed prairie dog "warranted" for listing as a Threatened species but that the Secretary was "precluded" from actually listing and protecting the species by more urgent concerns. The species benefited from some protection as a "warranted, but precluded" candidate species until the Secretary abruptly determined it "not warranted" for listing in August 2004. Today's lawsuit challenges this 2004 decision. Other organizations on today's suit are the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, Center for Native Ecosystems, and Rocky Mountain Animal Defense.

Black-tailed prairie dog populations have declined by at least 98 percent over the last century, a fact conceded by the Fish and Wildlife Service in its decision to remove the species as a Threatened candidate. Current populations are fragmented and isolated, tiny remnants of the massive colony complexes once found across the Great Plains from southern Canada through northern Mexico.

"The failure to grant Endangered Species protection to a species when only 1-2% remain is a recipe for extinction," stated Dr. Lauren McCain, Director of WildEarth Guardians' Deserts and Grassland Program. "The Fish and Wildlife Service knew that kicking the black-tailed prairie dog off the candidate list would unleash a torrent of prairie dog poisoning and other forms of persecution."

Indeed, South Dakota began to poison tens of thousands of acres of prairie dogs once Endangered Species Act listing was no longer under consideration. The day after the Service removed the species from the candidate list, South Dakota announced its mass extermination campaign in the Conata Basin, home to one of the two viable black-footed ferret populations remaining in the wild.

The government succumbed to pressure from the livestock industry and land developers, traditional enemies of prairie dog conservation, to allow more prairie dog eradication instead of needed protection. The Bush administration and its appointees within the Department of Interior have consistently sided with industry over the nation's wildlife and were clear opponents of prairie dog listing. Since the 2004 "not warranted" decision lethal control of black-tailed prairie dogs has sharply increased. South Dakota successfully executed its state-wide poisoning plan and pressured the U.S. Forest Service to poison prairie dogs on federal public land. The U.S. Forest Service and several states have allowed increases in recreational shooting. Colorado just approved use of the Rodenator-a device that blows up prairie dogs in their burrows, killing and maiming them and any other wildlife that might be in the burrow such as burrowing owls, rabbits, and others. The most common "control" technique is zinc phosphide, a poison that causes an agonizing death by internal hemorrhaging over the course of three days. Counties in Colorado, Kansas, and elsewhere are attempting to wipe out their prairie dog populations completely, and several counties have established funds to subsidize landowners for killing prairie dogs.

"Without Endangered Species Act protection, there will be no end to the suffering prairie dogs experience daily at the hands of humans," stated Dave Crawford, Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Animal Defense. "Now the government is allowing new and more inhumane forms of cruelty. The Rodenator is just one example, and there is a push to allow the use of killing mechanisms that have been outlawed for decades."

The black-tailed prairie dog lawsuit punctuates a celebration of prairie dogs during the Groundhog Day holiday, and its western counterpart "Prairie Dog Day." This year the towns of Boulder, Golden, and Lakewood, Colorado officially declared February 2 Prairie Dog Day. Last year, Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico declared the holiday Prairie Dog Day. Conservation groups and schools hosted educational programs and other events to draw attention to the importance and plight of prairie dogs. Today's lawsuit was filed in recognition of the need to honor prairie dogs by taking decisive action to protect these keystone species on-the-ground.

Not granting Endangered Species Act protection to the black-tailed prairie dog continues to put a host of other wildlife species in peril. Many animals eat prairie dogs. Several use prairie dog burrows for shelter, nesting, and breeding. Other animals are attracted to prairie dog colonies because of the unique habitat colonies provide. Black-footed ferrets, one of North Americas most endangered animals, relies on prairie dogs almost exclusively for food and lives in prairie dog burrows.

"Prairie dogs are like the canary in the coalmine," said Dr. Rich Reading, Associate Research Professor of biology at the University of Denver. "The prairie dog is what's known as a keystone species. When prairie dogs disappear, with them go the hawks, owls, foxes, ferrets, songbirds, and other animals that depend on them. Many of these animals are already imperiled. Protecting the black-tailed prairie dog will help restore the natural balance."

"Protecting the black-tailed prairie dog as threatened and safeguarding its remaining critical habitat would aid both the prairie dog and the host of species dependent on it," added Jay Tutchton, attorney for the plaintiffs in the case. "The original authors of the Endangered Species Act intended for the Act to safeguard species and their habitat."

Contacts: Dr. Lauren McCain, 303-573-4898, lmccain@fguardians.org   Deserts and Grassland Program Director, WildEarth Guardians Dr. Richard Reading, 303-376-4948, rreading@du.edu   Associate Research Professor, University of Denver, Department of Biology Jay Tutchton, 303-871-6034, jtutchton@law.du.edu   Director, Environmental Law Clinic, University of Denver, Sturm College of Law David Crawford, 303-449-4422, davec@rmad.org   Executive Director, Rocky Mountain Animal Defense Erik Molvar, 307-742-7978, erik@voiceforthewild.org   Biologist, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance