ISSUE BRIEF: Oppose listing the black-tailed prairie dog under ESA
Don’t let radical environmentalists push their radical anti-development agenda with another needless ESA listing!
The Issue:
Currently the Fish and Wildlife Service has re-undertaken analysis as to whether or not the black-tailed prairie dog should be listed as a threatened species. This listing will result in a multitude of hardships for anyone in the species’ affected region. Listing the black-tailed prairie dog will mean a lengthy mitigation process with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for any project that requires federal permits. Additionally, any project already on land deemed black-tailed prairie dog habitat, is open to be sued by environmentalists under the Endangered Species Act.
In reality, this petition spearheaded by environmental groups has very little to do with the prairie dog at all. It only serves as an attempt to further wall-off the West from development using the Endangered Species Act as a façade. The Fish and Wildlife Service declined to list the black-tailed prairie dog as a threatened species three years ago due to substantial scientific evidence showcasing the health and vitality of prairie dog populations throughout their range.
Impacts on the West:
Improved survey techniques have estimated that over 1.8 million acres of occupied habitat for the black-tailed prairie dog up from previous estimates of over 650,000 acres. It seems ridiculous to list a species as threatened when its numbers total over 18 million species! Furthermore, black-tailed prairie dogs have shown remarkable evolutionary resistance to plague, one of the biggest threats to prairie dog populations traditionally.
There is no reason to list the black-tailed prairie dog as a threatened species other than to further the extremist agenda of anti-development environmentalists. Black-tailed prairie dog populations continue to flourish, and need no further protection.
Should the black-tailed prairie dog earn threatened status, its destructive ways are allowed to continue and will harm businessmen in the area. Their burrowing, foraging, predator avoidance and other activities affect soils, water transport, vegetation, the occurrence of associated species, and other ecological processes. If additional protections for the prairie dog are enacted, we will take away resources from other sectors such as ranching and grazing that greatly need it.
Solutions:
- Take 60 seconds to tell the Department of the Interior they it had it right the first time in rejecting this listing and to not make this mistake and hurt businesses and landowners with another needless ESA listing!
Take Action on this Issue