Gunnison's prairie dog not on endangered list

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reviewed a petition to list the Gunnison's prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act and has concluded the petition does not contain substantial scientific information that the petitioned action is warranted. The finding was published in the Federal Register.

The FWS made the determination in response to a petition received on Feb. 23, 2004, from Forest Guardians and 73 other organizations and individuals. The petition requested that the Gunnison's prairie dog found in the Four Corners region of northern Arizona, southwestern Colorado, northwestern New Mexico and southeastern Utah be listed as threatened or endangered. Under the ESA, the FWS is required to review the petition to decide whether it contained substantial scientific information that warrants a more thorough review.

"The service remains interested in the population status, trends and ongoing management actions important to the conservation of the Gunnison's

prairie dog," said Mitch King, the FWS director of the Mountain-Prairie Region, "and we encourage interested parties to continue to gather data that will assist in these conservation efforts. More research is needed to better determine the distribution and abundance of the species throughout its range."

Populations of Gunnison's prairie dog colonies are variable, depending on environmental influences including habitat, the season, disease and precipitation as well as human-related influences such as rangeland management practices, chemical control and recreational shooting.

Rangewide, approximately 73 percent of potential Gunnison's prairie dog habitat occurs on tribal and private lands. In Arizona and New Mexico, a significant portion of potential habitat occurs on tribal lands.

Based largely upon federal records from early poisoning efforts, it is apparent that Gunnison's prairie dog occupied habitat has declined rangewide from tens of millions of acres to approximately 1 million acres in 1961 to perhaps less than 1 million acres at present. The FWS believes historic estimates are reasonable but also recognizes they are speculative. Without more information about the current status and population trends, the FWS was not able to conclude that populations are declining.

Additional information is needed regarding the impacts of disease, specifically sylvatic plague, as well as more information regarding population status and trends. The FWS has encouraged the states and tribes to collect information on the current status of Gunnison's prairie dog. Results from these efforts should be available within a year, and once received, the FWS will re-evaluate the status of the species.