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Show Input sought on future of prairie doa The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ser-vice announced that it is seeking public input on a plan to bring about the recovery of the Utah prairie dog, listed on June 4, 1973 as an endangered en-dangered species and reclassified as threatened on May 29, 1984. The Utah prairie dog faces extinction ex-tinction due to disease (plague), poisoning, drought and human-related human-related habitat alterations resulting from cultivation and poor grazing practices. A social animal, the Utah prairie dog lives in groups of burrows called colonies found in valley bottoms of southwestern Utah. The prairie dog is a herbivore that feeds on a variety of moist plant species. During the winter it hibernates allowing its body temperature to fall to just above freezing. Badgers, coyotes, raptors and possibly weasels are the primary predators of Utah prairie dogs. Much of its occupied habitat is to be developed for farms or housing projects. Prairie dogs in large, overcrowded over-crowded colonies on private lands can cause severe crop and equipment equip-ment damage. The recovery plan was written by scientists from state and federal agencies and universities. The primary goal is to recover this species by establishing and maintaining main-taining a self-sustaining, viable species distribution with retention of 90 percent of its genetic diversity for 200 years. This goal can be accomplished by establishing and maintaining for five consecutive years three populations popula-tions with a minimum number of 813 adult animals each. This will be accomplished by establishing new colonies on public land through the transplant of animals taken from private land colonies, ensuring the protection of prairie dogs and their habitat on those lands, and developing develop-ing and implementing site specific management plans for each colony and transplant site. Once finished, the plan will guide the actions of all federal and state agencies whose actions affect the conservation of the Utah prairie dog. The ultimate goal is to restore the species to a secure status in its native ecosystem. "It is very important for us to know what the public thinks about our approach to recovering this species," said Galen Buterbaugh, Denver regional director. The service ser-vice will collect written public comments on its recovery plan until July 26. Copies of the proposed plan can be obtained from the service by writing Field Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service, Fish and Wildlife Enhancement, 1745 West 1700 South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84104-5 84104-5 100 or calling 801-524-4430. |
