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Santa Fe, NM – Five conservation groups warned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) today of their intent to sue over the agency’s failure to provide a timely finding on the groups’ petition to increase protections for the Utah prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act. The groups sent the petition to reclassify the Utah prairie dog as an Endangered species to the Service on Groundhog Day in 2003. By law, the Service is required to issue a 90-day finding on whether the petition contains sufficient information to warrant further review.

Punxsutawney Phil’s cousin, the Utah prairie dog, has experienced dramatic declines over the past few years, which the groups trace to inadequate protection under the Endangered Species Act. In response to pressure from the State of Utah, in1984, the Utah prairie dog status was reclassified from Endangered to Threatened, which allowed for the Service to issue a special rule permitting shooting of this prairie dog species. The shooting program, in combination with a translocation program which has been a general failure, along with habitat conservation plans allowing for additional killing of prairie dogs and destruction of the habitat, are cited by the groups as contributing to continued declines in Utah prairie dog populations.

The Service wrote the groups several months ago, stating that it was unconcerned by population fluctuations and would not provide a timely petition finding. In their Notice of Intent to Sue the Service over the lack of a 90-day finding, the groups noted a decline from 5,878 individual animals in 2000 to 4,253 in 2001. While there was a slight rebound in 2002, the total census count declined from 4,944 in 2002 to only 3,741 in 2003. The 2003 census count is the lowest count since 1995. Census counts are thought to capture 50% of the total Utah prairie dog population, so it is believed that there are less than 7,500 Utah prairie dogs in existence today, a critically low number.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is openly flouting its duties to endangered species by refusing to provide a timely finding on our Utah prairie dog petition,” said Dr. Nicole Rosmarino, Endangered Species Director for WildEarth Guardians. “The Utah prairie dog is declining so rapidly, we don’t have the luxury of waiting any longer to take protective action.”

The Utah prairie dog is now recognized as being in acute danger of becoming extinct. At the turn of the millennium, the New York Times Magazine listed the Utah prairie dog as one of six species not likely to survive the next century.

“Although they are at critically low numbers, Utah prairie dogs are still shot, have their habitat destroyed, or are translocated to areas in which they generally won’t survive,” said Tori Woodard of the Utah group Escalante Wilderness Project. “In other words, they are still erroneously treated like vermin, despite being a species on the brink of extinction.”

All prairie dog species are considered keystone species, providing food and creating crucial habitat for many other native wildlife species. Wildlife closely associated with prairie dogs are undergoing what scientists describe as “a wave of secondary extinctions” due to prairie dog declines. Altogether, over 140 wildlife species have either been documented as dependent on prairie dog towns, or their biological requirements make it likely that they benefit from prairie dogs and the habitats they create.

“The American public has repeatedly expressed its strong support for protecting endangered species and the Endangered Species Act,” noted Jacob Smith, Executive Director of Center for Native Ecosystems. “The extinction of prairie dog species would be especially tragic because of their critical role in maintaining the ecosystems in which they live.”

The conservation groups advocating increased protection for the Utah prairie dog are WildEarth Guardians, Boulder Regional Group, Center for Native Ecosystems, Escalante Wilderness Project, and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

See WildEarth Guardians’ Utah prairie dog issue page to view the groups’ Notice of Intent to Sue and their Petition to Reclassify the Utah Prairie Dogs as an Endangered Species.