US Rejects Federal Protection for White-tailed Prairie Dogs

The white-tailed prairie dog will not be declared an endangered or threatened species after the U.S. government deemed on Tuesday there was no danger despite declines in its population from human development and disease. The decision was a victory for energy companies and ranchers who could have seen increased restrictions on lands that are open to oil and gas development and livestock grazing. Environmentalists more than a decade ago petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide Endangered Species Act protection to white-tailed prairie dogs, found only in Western states. Years of legal wrangling ensued, and in 2014 the Fish and Wildlife Service was ordered by a U.S. judge in Montana to correct gaps in a review of threats posed to the rodents, which build elaborate burrows in parts of Wyoming, Colorado, Montana and Utah. In the finding released on Tuesday, federal wildlife managers said their assessment of habitat destruction, poisoning, recreational shooting and other stressors affecting white-tailed prairie dogs, named for their white-tipped tails, showed the creatures to be resilient...more