ALBUQUERQUE — Whether he sees his shadow or not this Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil has it easy.
But in the West, his cousins are in dire straits, according to a report to be released Monday by WildEarth Guardians. The environmental group says North America’s five species of prairie dog have lost more than 90 percent of their historical range due to habitat loss, shooting and poisoning.
WildEarth Guardians’ report grades three federal land management agencies and a dozen states on their actions over the past year to protect prairie dogs and their habitat. Not one received an A.
New Mexico, home to the Gunnison’s prairie dog and black-tailed prairie dog, earned a D — the same as last year — because the group said state wildlife officials weren’t actively conserving prairie dogs. The group says oil and gas activity threatens habitat in rural areas, while urbanization in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos is pushing the animals out.
“It’s hard to see the prairie dogs that are missing when you drive across the West because our modern society has no perception about what it was like before we started poisoning prairie dogs,” said Lauren McCain, WildEarth Guardians’ desert and grassland projects director.
McCain said prairie dogs are an important part of a grassland ecosystem. They are food for hawks, golden eagles, foxes and endangered black-footed ferrets, while their burrows offer shelter for a variety of other species.
McCain said she hopes the report card will raise awareness about the prairie dog’s plight. She said the animals are in need of federal endangered species protections.
Of the five species, the Utah prairie dog is classified as threatened and the Mexican prairie dog as endangered. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued preliminary findings that the black- and white-tailed prairie dogs may warrant federal protection, and the Gunnison’s prairie dog is a candidate for protection in part of its range.
While most grades dropped from the previous year, Arizona improved to a B—the highest grade of all the states in prairie dog country. Arizona reintroduced 74 black-tailed prairie dogs to a small southeast parcel in October.
Until the reintroduction, the animals had not been seen in Arizona for nearly 50 years.
“They’re exploring the whole area and doing really well. We’re really pleased with the success to the point where we’re getting the process ready to start another reintroduction,” said James Driscoll, an Arizona Game and Fish Department biologist.
Driscoll acknowledged that the reintroduction effort wasn’t easy. Many people in the West, including ranchers, consider prairie dogs as varmints that destroy grass and cause erosion.
McCain said that misperception has resulted in wasteful government programs. She explained that agencies have financed and encouraged the poisoning of prairie dogs over the years while pumping millions of dollars into recovery efforts aimed at other species that rely on the prairie dog.
“We’re hoping that the report card will highlight some of the these inconsistencies in government management of wildlife,” McCain said. “… These are species that we really do need to protect instead of wasting taxpayer dollars, which is a big concern for a lot of people.”
Of the federal agencies, the Bureau of Land Management received the lowest grade: D-, the same as last year. The report accuses the agency of exempting energy development companies from complying with rules that would protect prairie dog colonies and habitat.
Bill Merhege, deputy state BLM director for lands and resources in New Mexico, said the agency takes numerous steps, such as moving well pads and roads to avoid prairie dog colonies and prohibiting prairie dog control on land it manages.
Like the state of New Mexico, BLM lists the Gunnison’s prairie dog and the black-tailed prairie dog as species of concern.
“We do what we can on public lands,” Merhege said. “Unfortunately, with interspersed landownership, what you do on one section doesn’t necessarily follow through on another.”
WildEarth Guardians’ report makes several recommendations, including that states and federal agencies ban poisoning and shooting of prairie dogs, especially on public lands; support efforts to prevent plague outbreaks; and eliminate subsidies that contribute to the destruction of prairie dog populations.
McCain said while Punxsutawney Phil’s forecast on Groundhog Day has been turned into a lighthearted celebration, the forecast for the prairie dog has serious ramifications.
“Really the prairie dog forecast is a forecast of the health of the entire prairie,” she said.
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