The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will reconsider politically tainted decisions on whether to extend endangered-species protections to the white-tailed prairie dog and the greater sage grouse in Colorado and across the West.
The agency reached a court settlement Tuesday with environmental groups that requires it to conduct population and threat research on the prairie dogs and make a new decision on their protection within two years.
Additionally, Fish and Wildlife officials promised to review the status of the grouse after a federal court overturned a finding in 2005 that it did not warrant protection.
The agency denied endangered-species protections to both species in decisions that were altered by former Interior Department official Julie MacDonald, a Bush appointee with no biology background.
“What these species and so many others need, which they’re not getting, is an unbiased and science-based review,” said Nicole Rosmarino, wildlife-program director for WildEarth Guardians.
A federal court in December ordered the agency to revisit its disputed 2005 decision that the greater sage grouse was not in danger of extinction after finding that MacDonald had improperly meddled with the recommendations of biologists.
That prompted the announcement Tuesday that the agency would accept new information on the ground-dwelling bird that is facing threats from oil and gas exploration throughout the West.
In the separate case settled Tuesday with the Center for Native Ecosystems, agency officials admitted that the prairie dogs were denied protections at MacDonald’s direction.
“That decision was changed in Washington,” said Ann Carlson, federal listing coordinator in Lakewood with the Fish and Wildlife Service.
The agency agreed to conduct a full review of the endangered-species status for the prairie dogs, said Erin Robertson, a senior staff biologist with the environmental organization.
