ALERT:
February 2008
Speak Up for Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs
CLICK
HERE FOR INFO
Please attend the
meeting and write letters to Game and Fish
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ADLA
is a member of the Prairie Dog Coalition, whose mission is
to protect and recover prairie dogs and prairie dog ecosystems
through coordinated education, advocacy, research, land acquisition,
and humane relocation operations.
 The
coalition faces a daunting task. All species of prairie dogs,
and the ecosystems they support, face numerous threats. Prairie
dogs are keystone species, serving as prey and providing habitat
to a multitude of prairie wildlife species. For instance,
more than 200 vertebrate species have been observed on or
near prairie dog colonies.
Black-Tailed
Prairie Dogs and White-Tailed Prairie Dogs
Both black-tailed prairie dogs and white-tailed prairie dogs
have been petitioned for a “threatened” listing
under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) — the
black-tailed in July and August 1998 and the white-tailed
in July 2002. The black-tailed prairie dog is now a candidate
for ESA listing. This provides little protection. In order
to insure survival, both species must be provided with enforceable,
adequate protections on both the federal and state levels.
The shooting and poisoning of these animals must be prohibited
by law, and their habitat must be protected.
Black-tailed
prairie dogs once lived in southern Arizona, but they have
been extirpated in Arizona — that means they were killed
off and none are left. After they were long gone, the Arizona
Game and Fish Commission banned recreational shooting of black-tailed
prairie dogs. Unfortunately, the commission has also only
reluctantly allowed department biologists to go through the
12-step process to consider reintroduction of black-tailed
prairie dogs. A majority of current commissioners have indicated
opposition to or a lack of support for reintroduction.
 Utah
and Mexican Prairie Dogs
The Utah and Mexican prairie dogs are both listed under the
ESA, but are both critically imperiled and continue to decline.
For the Utah prairie dog, the “recovery” planning
involves killing of individual Utah prairie dogs and destruction
of their towns on private lands. This killing must be stopped,
and Utah prairie dogs should be fully recovered by the US
Fish and Wildlife Service on both private and public land.
The US government must encourage Mexico to prevent decreases
in Mexican prairie dogs, who are imperiled by habitat conversion
to cropland and face imminent extinction.
Gunnison’s
Prairie Dogs
Gunnison’s prairie dog towns are increasingly disappearing
due to urban sprawl and habitat conversion to cropland, and
they too must be given federal protection from these threats.
Gunnison’s
prairie dogs live in northern Arizona, in and around Flagstaff
and on the Navajo reservation. About 25-30% of the total population
is in Arizona. Scientists believe Arizona numbers are dwindling
due to sprawl and a Sylvatic Plague outbreak in 2001.
By
protecting prairie dogs, entire ecosystems can be safeguarded.
These ecosystems once stretched across as much as one-third
of the United States and can thrive once again, if we protect
their very foundation, the prairie dog. Without this fundamental
protection, other prairie wildlife recovery efforts —
most notably for the black-footed ferret — are doomed
to failure.
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