WildEarth Guardians

Monday, October 29, 2007
Dozens Of Groups Urge Federal Protection For Declining Prairie Dog

The groups' 25-page letter includes over thirty attached scientific reports which document continued declines of Gunnison's prairie dogs across their southwestern range
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

Santa Fe, NM - October 29. WildEarth Guardians and dozens of conservation and animal protection organizations today urged the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to list the Gunnison's prairie dog, found in the southwest, under the Endangered Species Act. The Service denied this ecologically important mammal federal protection in February 2006. After evidence of political interference surfaced, the Service settled a lawsuit with WildEarth Guardians and others in early July that requires the agency to reconsider federal protection for the Gunnison's prairie dog by next February. Today marked the deadline for comments on the status review the Service is undertaking to determine whether to list the species.

WildEarth Guardians and a broad coalition of groups and organizations originally petitioned the Service for Gunnison's prairie dog listing in February 2004. Under court order, the Service must issue a finding on that petition on February 1, 2008, on the eve of Groundhog Day, which western conservation groups have renamed Prairie Dog Day.

The groups' 25-page letter includes over thirty attached scientific reports which documented continued declines of Gunnison's prairie dogs across their southwestern range due to a series of threats, including plague, poisoning, shooting, habitat destruction, and new information on the threat posed by the climate crisis.

"The Gunnison's prairie dog desperately needs the safety net the Endangered Species Act provides," stated Dr. Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians. "This humble mammal has been reduced by over 97% in less than a century, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service's own calculations. It's time to give it a fighting chance at survival through federal protection.

Many of the groups who sent today's letter are concerned about other species that have been denied protection due to political interference in Washington. Evidence of political interference has been revealed for the White-tailed prairie dog, Gunnison sage-grouse, Mountain plover, Greater sage-grouse, California tiger salamander, roundtail chub, Mexican garter snake, and a Mariana Islands plant. The long list of victims demonstrates a Bush administration pattern of violating the Endangered Species Act, which requires that listing decisions be based on solely biological factors.

"The Gunnison's prairie dog was on track to clear the first hurdle for endangered species protection, but with the stroke of a pen, was denied the chance at protection," stated Dr. Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians. Rosmarino continued, "We're pressing forward for Endangered Species Act listing, given the law's successful record of preventing extinction and to contest illegal interference in this petition finding."

The letter sent today also advocates listing all five prairie dog species that exist. Prairie dogs are unique to North America. Two of the five - the Mexican and Utah - are already protected under the Endangered Species Act. The other three - black-tailed, Gunnison's, and white-tailed - have all been petitioned for listing in the past several years. All prairie dog species are considered imperiled, having declined by over 90% over the past century. All are considered ecologically important "keystone" species, which provide habitat and prey for a variety of associated wildlife. More than 200 wildlife species have been documented on or near prairie dog towns.

For a copy Service emails showing evidence of political interference, and other background documents, please email nrosmarino@fguardians.org, or call 505-988-9126 x1156.

Background

WildEarth Guardians and a broad coalition of 73 co-petitioners, including private landowners, realtors, homebuilders, military officers, scientists, religious organizations, conservation and animal protection groups, submitted the petition to protect the Gunnison's prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act 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 Service has acknowledged that Gunnison's prairie dogs have declined by 97% across their four-state range in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah due to historic and current poisoning and shooting, sylvatic plague, and habitat destruction.

Prairie dogs are keystone species, which play an especially important role in their ecosystems by creating habitat and providing a prey base for a wide variety of predators. More than 140 wildlife species benefit from prairie dogs. For example, black-footed ferrets are among the most endangered mammals on earth, and that imperiled status is traced directly to prairie dog declines. Ferrets cannot survive in the wild outside of prairie dog towns and over 90% of their diet is prairie dogs. Protection for prairie dogs can fulfill the Endangered Species Act's stated purpose of safeguarding ecosystems.

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. Bush administration 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 federal protection.