Federal Relief Sought For Declining Prairie Dogs

Scientists, Religious Leaders, Conservation Groups Challenge Petition Findings

Santa Fe, NM - August 17. A dozen scientists, spiritual leaders, and conservation groups today sent a Notice of Intent to Sue the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) over the agency’s refusal to conduct a full review over whether to list the Gunnison’s prairie dog, found in the Four Corners Area, under the Endangered Species Act. The Service issued a negative petition finding in early February 2006.

“The Gunnison’s prairie dog is clearly in decline across its range, and since this species is an ecological cornerstone of the high desert, all available conservation alternatives must be used to prevent further decline of the species and its habitat,” stated Bob Luce, who served as Interstate Prairie Dog Team Coordinator for four years.

A broad coalition of private landowners, realtors, homebuilders, military officers, scientists, religious organizations, conservation and animal protection groups submitted the petition to the Service in February 2004. The wide variety of constituents backing federal protection for the species reflects its high degree of imperilment, broad popularity among wildlife watchers, and the prairie dog’s ecological importance in natural habitats.

“The Gunnison’s prairie dog urgently needs federal protection,” stated Dr. Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians. Rosmarino continued, “With Endangered Species Act listing, we can bring this rare species back from the brink,” citing the law’s success rate of preventing extinction of over 99% of the species listed under it.

The negative petition finding was a surprise to scientists and conservationists alike, given the high degree of imperilment of the Gunnison’s prairie dog. Gunnison’s prairie dogs have declined by over 90% across their range due to historic and current poisoning and shooting, sylvatic plague, and habitat destruction. Over the past several years, plague has devastated prairie dog populations across large areas in northern Arizona. Habitat destruction has resulted in prairie dog acreage reductions in Flagstaff, AZ and Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos, NM. Rampant shooting of Gunnison’s prairie dogs occurs in Colorado and escalating oil and gas development is eroding remaining prairiedog habitat in several states.

“The Gunnison’s prairie dog desperately needs federal protection if it is to be spared from extinction. With the devastating impact of exotic plague, habitat destruction, and rampant shooting and poisoning, this species is slipping away,” stated Dr. Con Slobodchikoff, who has pioneered research over the past two decades demonstrating that the Gunnison’s prairie dogs have the most sophisticated communication system yet documented among non-human animals.

But few species are obtaining positive petition findings at present under the George W. Bush administration, which has listed fewer species under the Endangered Species Act than any other administration since the law’s passage in 1973. Only 10 species per year have been listed under Bush, and all of those listings have been ordered by the courts. In contrast, the Clinton administration listed 65 species per year and the George H. W. Bushadministration listed an average of 59 species every year. Meanwhile, nearly 300 species languish on the candidate list without federal protection, and thousands more - including the Gunnison’s prairie dog - are not even in the queue for Endangered Species Act listing.

“God’s mercy is to all creations, as is said in Psalms: ‘God is good to all, and God's mercy extends to all God’s creatures.’ As we are made in the image of God, so should we extend mercy to all creatures, notably the Gunnison’s prairie dog,” stated Dr. Daniel Ziskin, of Jews Of The Earth.

The scientists, religious, and conservation groups issuing the Notice of Intent to Sue are biologists Dr. Constantine Slobodchikoff, Dr. Ana Davidson, Dr. David Lightfoot, and Jennifer Verdolin, M.S., Rev. Jacqueline Ziegler, Jews Of The Earth, WildEarth Guardians, Center for Native Ecosystems, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, Habitat Harmony, Inc., Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Wildlands Conservation Alliance, and Bob Luce, the former coordinator of the Interstate Prairie Dog Team.

Contacts: Dr. Nicole Rosmarino, WildEarth Guardians (505) 988-9126 x156 Bob Luce, Biologist, former coordinator of the Interstate Prairie Dog Team, 520-459-8604 or 520-404-1399 (cell) Dr. Con Slobodchikoff, Gunnison’s Prairie Dog Biologist, 928-699-2787 Dr. Daniel Ziskin, Jews Of The Earth, 720-254-8147

View the notice of intent to sue (PDF)


 

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