A Prairie Home Invasion

Jonathan Wood

An old-fashioned “WANTED” poster hangs in the Capitol Hill offices of Senator Mike Lee. Rather than a notorious criminal, this one features the cartoon image of a Utah prairie dog. To most visitors this might seem like a joke. But for many of Senator Lee’s constituents in southwestern Utah, the rodent is no laughing matter.

The Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens) is one of five types of prairie dogs and is only found in southwestern Utah. Like other species of the rodent, Utah prairie dogs build extensive networks of burrows and tunnels, which provide their colonies shelter and a place to hibernate for four to six months of the year.

The species was pushed to the verge of extinction in the first half of the 20th century by a combination of human development and a federal extermination campaign sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That campaign proved a bit too effective, however, and the species was listed as endangered as soon as the Endangered Species Act was enacted in 1973.

With fecundity similar to rabbits, the population grew to more than 20,000 over the next decade, and its status under the act was changed from “endangered” to “threatened.” The population has exploded since then, with state surveys estimating it at around 90,000 today.

However, today’s population of Utah prairie dogs is very different from the one that existed a hundred or more years ago. The rodent’s natural habitat is semi-arid shrubs and grasslands. But these days they seem to prefer the suburbs and farmland, which provide abundant food and protection from predators. As of 2010, approximately 70 percent of Utah prairie dogs reside on private property, thanks in large part to the impacts of human development on the species.

The prairie dog’s affinity for residential and agricultural areas has predictably led to conflict. But fault does not lie with the prairie dog. The true culprit is an Endangered Species Act regulation that pits property owners and prairie dogs against each other.
That regulation broadly prohibits any activity that affects a single member of the species, even on private property, without a federal permit. However, most private property is categorically ineligible for permits. The regulation even forbids state biologists from moving prairie dogs from residential areas to state conservation lands, on pain of substantial fines and imprisonment. Consequently, the regulation blocks people from engaging in activities that most of us take for granted in our own communities—including building homes in residential neighborhoods, protecting private gardens, and enjoying public parks—and forbids the state and local governments from mediating conflicts.

READ ENTIRE ESSAY