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Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse, Colorado Open Space Confirmed for Protection

Wyoming populations to be left out of Endangered Species safety net

The Preble’s meadow jumping mouse, a key indicator of the health of streamside wildlife habitat along the Front Range, was confirmed today as a species in need of Endangered Species Act protection in Colorado. In Wyoming, however, the Preble’s will be stripped of its protection, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service proposal.

Prebles Meadow Jumping Mouse. Photo courtesy Anne Ruggles.

The Preble’s meadow jumping mouse, a key indicator of the health of streamside wildlife habitat along the Front Range, was confirmed today as a species in need of Endangered Species Act protection in Colorado.  In Wyoming, however, the Preble’s will be stripped of its protection, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service proposal.

Living only in healthy streamside habitats, the Preble’s is a sign of flourishing open space.  In the Town of Castle Rock south of Denver, the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse has helped spur efforts to safeguard open space and conserve streamside habitats along Plum Creek, which flows through the middle of the Town.

“The Preble’s has helped to spur increased attention and action to conserve streamside habitats and open spaces,” said Jane Cyphers, a Castle Rock Parks and Recreation Commissioner.  “This isn’t just about the Preble’s, it’s about our quality of life.”

Under the proposed rule, scheduled for adoption in June of 2008, opportunities for municipalities and private landowners in Colorado to benefit from habitat protection for the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse will continue.  In the meantime, the current rule protecting the Preble’s across its full range remains in effect.

“This decision will extend our chance to not only preserve the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse, but also what’s left of our streams and open spaces in Colorado,” said Jeremy Nichols, Conservation Advocate at Center for Native Ecosystems.

With rampant development along the Front Range, large segments of streamside habitats have been destroyed.  Once thriving along foothill streams from the Colorado Front Range north to Wyoming, populations have been destroyed and declines have been recorded throughout its range.  The Fish and Wildlife Service now recognizes large tracts of the Front Range as places that once supported Preble’s meadow jumping mouse populations but which have been so thoroughly developed that they are no longer viable habitat.  These tracts include the metropolitan regions surrounding urban centers such as Fort Collins, Longmont, Boulder, Denver, and Colorado Springs.

The Preble’s meadow jumping mouse has suffered politically-motivated attacks throughout its tenure on the Endangered Species list:

•    Last June, the Service admitted that it had purposely relied on a flawed genetics study when it first proposed to strip the Preble’s of its protection in 2005. 

•    Also last June, the Service admitted that it bowed to pressure from a political appointee and weakened a 2003 habitat protection rule for the Preble’s.

In 1998, the Fish and Wildlife Service cited “unprecedented development” along the Front Range as the greatest threat to the Preble’s and its habitat.  Since then such development has continued and even increased in many places.  In places where such development impacts currently-occupied Preble’s habitat, the Fish and Wildlife Service coordinates with municipalities and individual landowners to ensure development projects proceed with adequate protections in place.

The Denver Regional Council of Governments predicts that by 2035, the Denver metro area will grow by 1.5 million people.  According to the Council’s Draft Denver Metro Vision Plan, this could lead to more water pollution, more lost open space, and more lost wildlife habitat.  According to the Council, the Denver metro urban area is on track to balloon to more than 1,000 square miles, an area the size of Rhode Island.

Since 1998, populations of the Preble’s have remained in peril.  While previously undiscovered populations have been found as a result of increased surveys, the Preble’s remains exceedingly rare.  Even where the healthiest populations are known, such as at the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, fewer than fifty Preble’s have been found after intensive surveys.  In areas where populations have been destroyed, like the Colorado Springs and Denver regions, populations have not recovered at all. 

Although efforts to protect and restore habitat have taken place, these efforts have been overshadowed by continued unprecedented development.  Cities like Castle Rock, Boulder, and Fort Collins have taken steps to protect streamside habitats, but counties like Douglas and El Paso have pushed ahead with continued development.  The Fish and Wildlife Service has granted permits for developers in both these counties to destroy Preble’s meadow jumping mouse habitat.

The streamside habitats which are vital for the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse are also important to an array of wildlife along the Front Range.  Although such areas comprise around 1% of the total land area, they support over 75% of all wildlife, including deer and songbirds according to Colorado Division of Wildlife information.

The proposed decision to exclude Wyoming’s populations from federal protection will end protection for habitat along the North Platte River in four counties in eastern Wyoming.

“Why would the Service cut off an entire population?” said Nichols.  “If the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse is threatened with extinction, then it’s threatened everywhere on the Front Range, and leaving all of Wyoming out is only going to increase that threat.”

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