The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Focuses on cooperation, education and research
The Colorado Division of Wildlife has opened a 30-day public comment period on a newly released 10-year plan for protecting two of Western Colorado’s prairie dog species.
The conservation plan for the white-tailed prairie dog, native to northwestern Colorado, and the Gunnison’s prairie dog, whose range covers much of southwest Colorado, the San Luis Valley and South Park, will be used to maintain populations that have been in decline for the past 100 years.
After past petitions to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to get either species protection under the Endangered Species Act, the agency agreed that the montane populations of the Gunnison’s prairie dog, or those living in mountainous regions, should be a candidate for the list. The case for listing the white-tailed prairie dog is still under review.
Feeling that more protection was needed, the states in the prairie dogs’ range took on an effort of their own. The result was the Colorado Gunnison’s and White-tailed Prairie Dog Conservation Plan developed by the DOW, starting in 2006.
“With this conservation plan we identify tasks that will be put into action on the ground to help maintain these important species,” said Tom Nesler, chief of the DOW’s wildlife conservation section. “A vital strategy in this plan is to work cooperatively with private landowners, local communities and other government agencies.”
Part of the cooperative effort between the division and landowners will involve spreading information about the negative impact dividing prairie dog habitat for agricultural purposes has had on populations and the benefit of having healthy colonies on the land.
According to division biologists, prairie dogs provide an important food source for several species of predators and habitat for small mammals and burrowing owls, which are also an endangered species, through their burrowing habits.
By foraging and excavating, prairie dogs also provide a vital function in aerating and adding nitrogen to the soil, increasing the diversity and density of plant life.
The plan says that conflicts with landowners arise when prairie dogs damage crops or destroy machinery. There is also a “negative perception of prairie dogs” that can be attributed to their potential for carrying disease, it says.
Sylvatic plague is an introduced, flea-transmitted disease that is caused by bacteria and is considered to be one of the major challenges facing long-term prairie dog conservation. It can also be transmitted to people who come into contact with infected animals or the fleas, but can be treated.
“The prairie dog is disparaged by some people as a destructive pest and source of plague. We acknowledge the undesirable nature of these prairie dog characteristics and always strive to manage populations in a way to enable affected stakeholders to address those problems,” says Nesler.
After the plan was released, in a letter to the Gunnison Country Times, “endangered rancher” Tim Cranor says there are plenty of prairie dogs and the costs to ranchers are high. He says the hole dug by the “rodents” can cause damage to livestock and drainage ditches.
Over the years, landowners have taken a number of different approaches to prairie dog eradication, like poisoning, shooting and drowning.
The hope for the plan is to develop, promote and implement the conservation strategy with the goal of avoiding the need to list either species under the federal Endangered Species Act.
As the strategies are implemented, the DOW will try to identify areas where more research is needed, focus the resources it has to enforce the plan and increase the level of participation on the part of anyone who has a stake in the future of both prairie dog species.
The public comment for the plan, which can be seen on the DOW website, http://wildlife.state.co.us/, will be open until November 3. Comments can be emailed to [email protected] or sent to 2300 S. Townsend Ave., Montrose, CO 81401.
