The white-tailed prairie dog is found in the "Sagebrush Sea" of central and western Wyoming, northwestern Colorado, northeastern Utah, and south-central Montana. This beleaguered small mammal is critical to the health of the sagebrush ecosystem. Endangered black-footed ferrets depend on prairie dogs for food and on their burrows for shelter. Prairie dogs also provide food for badgers, ferruginous hawks, and golden eagles  and crucial habitat for many other native plants and animals. They play a key role in mixing soil, which results in better forage for grazers like pronghorn, bison, and domestic livestock, and increases soil moisture by allowing precipitation to penetrate deeper into the soil.

Unfortunately, the white-tailed prairie dog is suffering severe declines, having vanished from 92 percent of its historical habitat, and is headed for extinction without assertive and committed conservation action. Sylvatic plague, a disease accidentally introduced to North America around 1900, is now present throughout the range of the white-tailed prairie dog. Prairie dogs are extremely susceptible to this disease, and the white-tailed prairie dog has suffered large-scale population declines as a result. Also, like its Great Plains cousin the black-tailed prairie dog, the white-tailed prairie dog has suffered from decades of human persecution, including recreational target shooting and aggressive poisoning efforts by the federal government and private citizen alike. Oil and gas drilling, suburban sprawl, and conversion of the land to agriculture have also devastated prairie dog habitat.

CNE is leading a coalition of six conservation groups and author Terry Tempest Williams in seeking protection for the imperiled white-tailed prairie dog and its habitat. In July 2002, the coalition submitted a citizen petition to list the white-tailed prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act. On February 24, 2003, because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuses even to begin the listing process, our coalition had no choice but to file suit against the Service in Federal District Court.

The white-tailed prairie dog forms the cornerstone of an important natural community. By protecting the prairie dog and its sagebrush habitat we can protect the health of many other species and these sagebrush ecosystems.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       white-tailed prairie dog photo by Iain Byrne   

Breaking News . . .

In October of 2006, the Washington Post reported that a high-level political appointee at the Department of Interior, Julie MacDonald, repeatedly overturned decisions made by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists to protect imperiled wildlife species under the Endangered Species Act.  The Department of Interior Inspector General launched an internal investigation, and the results were made public in late March 2007.   Representative Nick Rahall (D-WV) is calling for Congressional hearings.  You can read more about this on our news releases ("Federal report finds political interference in sage grouse, Prebles protection" and "Bush Administration Political Appointee Reverses Endangered Species Protections for Nation's Wildlife"), and you can review some of the relevant documents in the "Related Content" box below.  You'll find some other supporting documents at these sites:

Supporting documents on the Gunnison sage grouse.

Supporting documents on the Gunnison's prairie dog.

Supporting documents on other species.

Print version of the Washington Post story 10/30/2006, with images (1.7 Mb).