DENVER—On Groundhog Day, an environmental group released a bleak forecast for his smaller Western cousin—the prairie dog.
New Mexico-based WildEarth Guardians flunked one federal agency, gave another a “D” and graded most states low on efforts to maintain populations of prairie dogs, considered a key part of the Western ecosystem but reviled by ranchers.
“Punxsutawney Phil may predict the length of winter, but the status of prairie dogs predicts the health of our Western grassland wildlife communities,” said Lauren McCain, the environmental group’s prairie protection director.
The group issued its prairie dog report card on Groundhog Day “to celebrate another furry burrowing animal,” McCain said.
Development, poisoning, recreational shooting and plague have severely reduced the numbers of all five species of prairie dogs.
The rodent, from 1 to 3 pounds and a little over a foot long, is seen by environmentalists and federal biologists as a key part of the ecosystem because it is a food source for other animals, including the endangered black-footed ferret. Abandoned prairie dog burrows provide shelter for other animals. Their digging naturally fertilizes the soil and increases moisture content.
“There were once billions of black-tailed prairie dogs east of the (Continental) Divide,” McCain said.
Ranchers use poison to control prairie dogs on their land, but that likely doesn’t have much effect on overall populations, said Terry Fankhauser, executive director of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association.
Fankhauser said ranchers have helped state wildlife officials count acres of prairie dog habitat in Colorado.
“We thought we had 100,000 acres,” Fankhauser said. “Today, because of surveys done on private, state and federal lands, close to 900,000 acres have been established.”
Ranchers “absolutely, unequivocally” don’t believe the black-tailed prairie dog should be given federal protection, Fankhauser said. The animals compete with cattle on the range for grass and damage the range by digging big holes, he said.
The WildEarth Guardians’ report gave the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service a “D” because last year it decided against protecting the black-tailed prairie dog. Despite the prairie dog’s low numbers, its population has increased significantly in recent years, the agency said.
Fish and Wildlife estimates that black-tailed prairie dogs occupy about 2.1 million acres in 11 states, including in the Rockies and on the Great Plains. The historic range was at least 80 million acres.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency received a failing grade from WildEarth Guardians because the agency approved the expanded use of poison in 11 states to kill prairie dogs. Conservation groups are suing to overturn the decision.
Tyler Baskfield, spokesman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said he doesn’t believe WildEarth Guardians’ report card on prairie dogs does anything to help the species.
“Some conservation groups do things on the ground,” Baskfield said. “WildEarth Guardians mostly do litigation and it sets us back.”
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