Prairie dog plan released for review

Part of effort to prevent listing as endangered species

The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) has released a draft of its plan for protecting the Gunnison’s prairie dog that has a detailed conservation strategy. The Gunnison Area Prairie Dog Draft Action Plan is also meant to show that the state, with the help of local officials, is capable of preserving the species on its own.

State and local officials from areas inside the prairie dogs’ range got nervous that the federal government might step on, or over, local management efforts after a petition to revisit listing under the Federal Endangered Species Act was filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by Denver-based WildEarth Guardians in March.
The group had filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 12-month finding on the status of the Gunnison’s prairie dog. That finding had recommended not listing the prairie dog as endangered, but that recommendation could change.
County officials know that federal intervention would place strict regulations on the type of activities that can take place in prairie dog habitat, like recreation and development, and are not eager to see the species listed.
In a letter asking the judge presiding over the lawsuit for permission to intervene, county attorney David Baumgarten writes, “All, or a significant portion of, Gunnison County, Colorado is in the ‘montane’ portion of the range of the Gunnison’s prairie dog.
“The relief requested in the Plaintiff’s Complaint … would directly and indirectly impair or impede Gunnison County’s use of its statutory authorities and the subject matter Gunnison County is authorized to regulate, its environment, its economy and uses of the land by its landowners and visitors.”
The Gunnison Area Prairie Dog Draft Action Plan is a collaborative effort between the DOW and Gunnison County to show that federal intervention is not necessary.
According to Nathan Seward, a wildlife conservation biologist with the DOW, “This action plan was developed by individuals and government agency representatives from Gunnison County. Conservation actions for prairie dog conservation are best made by people at the local level who know the land and the issues.”
The plan is the product of a May work session between DOW and county staff and outlines strategies for maintaining a viable prairie dog population, including managing common diseases such as the plague, increasing population monitoring, finding sites where populations could be reestablished and regulating and educating landowners’ use of poison to control populations.
“The DOW is working on action plans throughout western Colorado in an attempt to demonstrate that a federal listing for the Gunnison’s prairie dog and also the while-tailed prairie dog is not necessary,” a DOW press release says.
The focus for the first three years of the five-year plan will be to identify high-priority management areas and to develop various protocols to manage the implementation of the plan, which will start this year.
To review the Gunnison area draft plan, as well as the overall Colorado management strategy, go to wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpecies/.
Comments on the Gunnison plan can be sent to Nathan.Seward@state.co.us.
Comments on the statewide plan can go to Amy.Seglund@state.co.us.