NWF Seeks Protection for Prairie Dogs To Help Save Western Grasslands - includes other National Wildlife Federation news

National Wildlife, Oct-Nov, 1998

One of the most enduring images of the Great Plains is the ubiquitous prairie dog popping out of its burrow. But the sad truth is that the most widespread of the country's four prairie dog species, the black-tailed prairie dog, is in deep trouble. Its plight reflects a broader danger to an entire ecosystem: the shortgrass prairie that once covered vast stretches of the nation's heartland.

The situation is so serious that the National Wildlife Federation has petitioned the federal government to issue emergency regulations listing the black-tailed prairie dog as a threatened species throughout its range, including land in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.

Besides addressing the decline of the prairie dog itself, the petition aims to harness the power of the Endangered Species Act to restore western shortgrass prairie habitats on which the prairie dog and scores of other species depend.

Because other animals make use of their burrows and because they are an important source of food for predators, black-tailed prairie dogs are linked to the well-being of many other species, including the swift fox, mountain plover, ferruginous hawk and burrowing owl. They are also essential to the survival of the black-footed ferret, an endangered species which has been the focus of a major recovery effort.

"This is not just about one species," says NWF Senior Wildlife Biologist Sterling Miller. "If we don't help the prairie dogs, we can't save the ferret, and it's just a matter of time until other species are in trouble, too."

The Federation recognizes that its petition will be highly controversial among developers, ranchers and others who fear possible restrictions on use of public or private land. It is contacting governors of affected states, wildlife agencies and landowners' groups in hopes of shaping recovery plans that meet the needs of both wildlife and local people.

"This is the best possible use of the Endangered Species Act," says NWF President Mark Van Putten. "If we all work together to make common-sense changes now, we can head off real problems later." Van Putten noted that without immediate action the black-tailed prairie dog's eventual decline to endangered status would mean far greater restrictions and economic costs.

"Anyone who tries to turn this into a political football by stirring up fear and opposition is not looking out for the long-term welfare of this ecosystem or the people who depend on it," he added.

Although the black-tailed prairie dog is still a common sight in many parts of the West, development and farming have reduced its habitat by 99 percent. Its numbers have been further diminished by disease, intentional poisoning and unregulated shooting. Having once ranged across 100 to 250 million acres of grasslands, the animals are now scattered across an estimated 700,000 to 800,000 acres of rapidly disappearing habitat, much of it in fragmented parcels too small to sustain viable populations.

Because of the isolation of the remaining colonies, many experts believe black-tailed prairie dogs would not be able to repopulate areas that are affected by diseases, such as a flea-borne plague that periodically causes dramatic die-offs. As a result, even relatively large populations are susceptible to local or even widespread extinction.

Saving the species and its habitat will require the elimination of a plethora of government policies. Many state and federal agencies, for example, encourage poisoning of prairie dogs to keep them from competing with cattle on grazing lands in spite of evidence that prairie dog colonies are not incompatible with cattle grazing and may well be beneficial. "With a threatened designation, there's plenty of flexibility in the Endangered Species Act to address the needs of economic growth and the concerns of local communities," Van Putten stresses.

Under the law, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has 90 days to respond to NWF's petition. If the agency decides the petition has merit, but does not issue an emergency listing, it has one year to decide whether black-tailed prairie dogs should be protected.

Great Lakes Water Diversion: Target Of Coalition Suit

Allowing groundwater to be pumped from the Great Lakes Basin into the Mississippi River Basin would set a dangerous precedent that could affect the future health of the Great Lakes.

That's the thrust of a lawsuit filed against the Army Corps of Engineers by a coalition of conservation groups, including NWF and two of its affiliates, the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and Michigan United Conservation Clubs. At issue is the agency's interpretation of a federal law that could allow owners of a proposed copper and zinc mine in northern Wisconsin to pump up to 1.7 million gallons of groundwater per day through a 38-mile-long pipe into the Wisconsin River, a tributary of the Mississippi.

Groundwater in the vicinity of the mine would naturally flow into the nearby Wolf River, which drains into the Lake Michigan basin. But the company claims it could not meet the discharge requirements to protect water quality in the Wolf, which is a state-designated Outstanding Resource Water and a National Wild and Scenic River.