WildEarth Guardians

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Endangered Species Act Protection Will Be Considered for White-tailed Prairie Dog

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Overturns Politically Motivated Decision
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

Denver-In a court settlement signed today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to overturn a politically motivated decision denying the white-tailed prairie dog consideration as an endangered species. The Service will instead initiate a formal status review by May 1, 2008 and will determine whether Endangered Species Act protection is necessary for the prairie dog by June 1, 2010.

"This agreement gives the Service and state wildlife agencies two more years to research the white-tailed prairie dog's status," said Erin Robertson, Senior Staff Biologist for the Denver-based conservation group that secured the settlement, Center for Native Ecosystems. "Hopefully the days of political interference are over," said Robertson.

Last year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service admitted that Julie MacDonald, a political appointee in the Interior Department with no biological training, overruled agency biologists to deny protecting the white-tailed prairie dog and other species under the Endangered Species Act. In a June 21, 2007 memo, the Fish and Wildlife Service stated that the denial of protections for the prairie dog "only occurred at Ms. MacDonald's direction" and that the Service recommended moving forward with a status review; however, the Service made no commitment as to when this would occur. In today's agreement, the Service promised to initiate the status review that the biologists previously recommended by May 1st of this year. Based on this review, the Service will publish their determination of whether Endangered Species Act protection is necessary by June 1, 2010.

The white-tailed prairie dog is an indicator of healthy wildlife populations in the sagebrush sea of the west. Many animals depend on prairie dogs for food and shelter, including endangered black-footed ferrets, burrowing owls, mountain plovers, and ferruginous hawks. Once ranging throughout western Colorado, eastern Utah, Wyoming, and south-central Montana, the prairie dog has declined by over 92% throughout its range. Oil and gas drilling, disease, shooting, and poisoning have taken their toll.

"White-tailed prairie dogs are so important to other imperiled western wildlife," said Josh Pollock, Conservation Director for Center for Native Ecosystems. "The least the Service can do is provide a fair assessment of the prairie dog's status based on the data it collects over the next two years," said Pollock.

In 2002, a coalition of conservation groups and author Terry Tempest Williams petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the white-tailed prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act. In 2004 the Service published the manipulated finding. The conservation groups obtained documents via the Freedom of Information Act that demonstrated that MacDonald changed the biologists' finding, which the Service confirmed in 2007. Today's settlement is the result of a subsequent lawsuit filed in November 2007 by Center for Native Ecosystems, WildEarth Guardians, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, and Terry Tempest Williams.

The white-tailed prairie dog faces growing threats from oil and gas drilling. Recent reports indicate that in the next 15-20 years, more than 126,000 new oil and gas wells will be drilled in the Rocky Mountains, many of them in the sagebrush basins that the white-tailed prairie dog calls home.

Duane Short, Wild Species Program Director for Biodiversity Conservation Alliance noted, "In Wyoming, oil and gas drilling is being approved at an unprecedented pace within the prairie dog's range without proper consideration of impacts." Short added, "If the Service is serious about allowing science to drive its decisions it will expedite its assessment of the prairie dog's status."

Plague is another major threat to the species' survival. Prairie dogs are highly susceptible to this nonnative disease accidentally introduced to North America around 1900.

"With a long history of persecution, it is imperative that decisions on whether to protect prairie dogs under the Endangered Species Act be based solely on biology," stated Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians. "Mounting threats further underscore the need for a fair decision on protecting the white-tailed prairie dog," continued Rosmarino.

For supporting materials including a high-resolution white-tailed prairie dog photo, documentation of MacDonald's interference, and the 2002 petition requesting Endangered Species Act protection, please visit:www.nativeecosystems.org/species/white-tailed-prairie-dog-1/white-tailed-prairie-dog/

For More Information Contact: Erin Robertson, Senior Staff Biologist, Center for Native Ecosystems, 303-546-0214 x 4 Josh Pollock, Conservation Director, Center for Native Ecosystems, 303-546-0214 x 1 Nicole Rosmarino, Wildlife Program Director, WildEarth Guardians, 505-699-7404 Duane Short, Wild Species Program Director, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, 307-742-7978

As of January 28, 2008 WildEarth Guardians, Sinapu, and the Sagebrush Sea Campaign have joined forces to become WildEarth Guardians. With offices in Boulder, Denver, Phoenix and Santa Fe, WildEarth Guardians protects and restores wildlife, wild places, and wild rivers in the American West.