Prairie dogs won't get federal help
By MIKE CORN
The black-tailed prairie dog -- loathed by many almost as much as it is loved by others -- will not receive protection under the federal Endangered Species Act.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in a decision announced Wednesday and published in today's Federal Register, determined "that listing the black-tailed prairie dog as either threatened or endangered is not warranted at this time."
The decision is an outgrowth of a petition filed by WildEarth Guardians, a Denver-based environmental group. The group also filed a lawsuit against the federal wildlife agency for failing to take action on its petition to list the prairie dog as an endangered species.
The agency's 90-day preliminary finding, issued a year ago as part of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed against it, had determined that such a listing might be warranted. Black-tailed prairie dogs in 2000 were deemed warranted for inclusion on the list but precluded by higher priority species. That finding was confirmed twice and then reversed in 2004 when the states where the animals are found conducted surveys and determined a larger than expected distribution of prairie dogs inhabiting the landscape.
Generally, prairie dogs inhabit only about 2 percent of their historic range.
In Kansas, recent surveys suggest prairie dogs inhabit about 174,000 acres, much of it in northwest Kansas.
While FWS again has determined prairie dogs won't be offered protection, the agency did ask for continued updates from the public.
"However, we ask the public to continue to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the status of, or threats to, the black-tailed prairie dog or its habitat at any time," the report states. "This information will help us to monitor and conserve the species."
The report had been prepared by FWS biologist Pete Gober, based in Pierre, S.D., but it also had to receive a stamp of approval from the regional director in Denver and top agency officials in Washington.
Speculation on the outcome of the 12-month finding had been mixed.
Environmentalists expressed doubt that the agency would afford endangered species protection to black-tailed prairie dogs, while detractors of the animal had complained that too many exist to qualify for the list.
In fact, states reporting estimated acres again was the reason for the federal agency's refusal to include the animal on the list.
"We conclude that the best scientific and commercial information available indicates that the black-tailed prairie dog is not now, or in the foreseeable future, threatened by the present or threatened destruction, modification or curtailment of its habitat or range to the extent that listing under the act as a threatened or endangered species is warranted at this time," a 51-page preview of today's Federal Register report states.