The prairie dog personifies the American West and its vast grasslands. When I see and hear their “jump-yips,” I interpret them not only as the animals communicating alertness and defending their territory but also calling out to us to recognize the possibility of balancing conservation and agriculture.
The stakes are high: prairie dogs are barely holding on, only occupying just 4% of their historic range on the plains. Defenders and other organizations are working hard in the field to conserve and protect this vital element of the prairie ecosystem. Mass poisoning campaigns, sylvatic plague spread by fleas, and recreational shooting combined are part of what we are up against. The biggest challenge, however, comes down to state management.
Diametrically Opposed Management
Several western states manage prairie dogs with a dual designation. They are classified as an “agricultural pest,” which means they are lethally controlled. The prairie dog is also state listed as a “species of greatest conservation need.”
The “pest” designation means they can be poisoned to control their numbers, as managed by and largely funded by state departments of agriculture. The rationale? Prairie dogs compete with livestock for forage and can damage crops. It’s of no consequence; thousands of colonies are poisoned each year.
Simultaneously prairie dogs are being conserved and managed by state wildlife agencies as a keystone species because their colonies, burrows and grazing habits support over 100 species of wildlife, including the endangered black-footed ferret. These conflicting designations are out of balance, leading to the continued extirpation of prairie dogs, a native species critical for maintaining biodiversity in grassland ecosystems.
Wyoming is a good example of this unbalanced management conundrum: mandating control of prairie dogs while simultaneously conservating them. Colorado, Kansas and South Dakota allow counties to mandate control of prairie dogs, and yet again, these same states also recognize them for their ecological value. Arizona lists black-tailed and Gunnison’s prairie dogs as a non-game species, sometimes managed for control, and a species of greatest conservation need. North Dakota also waffles on this issue, designating them as a species of conservation priority while still allowing for lethal control.
It makes no sense!
This is the conundrum our ferret and prairie dog conservation community faces. The Prairie Dog Coalition, which Defenders and Grasslands Colorado are a part of, is on the front lines of this issue. We are collectively advocating for better protections in place and for states to practice non-lethal control measures that can make a difference. We even have coexistence case studies developed with the Prairie Dog Coalition and by the Humane World for Animals and Defenders, demonstrating that conservation and rangeland management can be compatible.
Hunting While Saving Prairie Dogs?
Colorado is well known for its premier state wildlife agency — Colorado Parks and Wildlife — and especially for the recovery of black-footed ferrets. The agency and Commission have dedicated considerable annual resources and staff to conserve and protect prairie dogs — the ferret’s primary prey — by mitigating against sylvatic plague, which can devastate prairie dog and ferret populations after an outbreak occurs.
But another contradiction in management: the same agency allows for the hunting of prairie dogs without bag limits. Regulations list prairie dogs as a “varmint,” allowing recreational shooters to take aim at the animals, with many saying “it’s fun” and for “target practice.” They shoot thousands of prairie dogs each year. It’s devastating to prairie dog family units, which research has shown can impact the health of a population because of the loss of individuals, and at the expense of the health of the ecosystem.
In Wyoming, hotel rooms in the town of Wright often sell out from May to July. This is the prime season when masses of recreational shooters descend on Thunder Basin National Grassland to shoot and kill prairie dogs.
The USDA Forest Service for Cimarron-Commanche National Grasslands, located in both Colorado and Kansas, is drafting a new management plan. Defenders and a coalition of our partners have already submitted a comment letter with recommendations backed by science, addressing this issue and recommending the Forest Service shift the management balance toward prairie dog colony conservation.
We specifically ask to permanently ban prairie dog shooting on these public lands, which the Forest Service has the authority to do. South Dakota, Buffalo Gap National Grasslands has done this already. This was particularly important since these grasslands border Badlands National Park, which is home to the largest population of black-footed ferrets, supported by thousands of acres of prairie dogs.
The Precautionary Principle
We are advocating for states and agencies to take what is called the "precautionary principle" in natural resource management. This principle mandates proactive and preventative actions against irreversible environmental harm that will occur to our grasslands, if we continue down the path of destroying the prairie dog ecosystem.
Prairie dogs shape and support our grasslands and, therefore, should be managed first and foremost for their conservation value and with coexistence strategies with livestock. Prairie dogs are wildlife, deserving of our jumps and yips!
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