On September 17, 2010, we announced the availability of a draft revised recovery plan for the Utah prairie dog. The Service solicits review and comment from the public on this draft revised plan. The recovery strategy for the Utah prairie dog focuses on the need to address colony loss and disease through a program that encompasses threats abatement, population management, research, and monitoring. The plan emphasizes: conserving extant colonies, many of which occur on non-Federal lands; establishing additional colonies on Federal and non-Federal lands via habitat improvement or translocations; controlling the transmission of plague; and monitoring habitat conditions.
- Federal Register Notice: September 16, 2010 Draft Revised Recovery Plan for Utah Prairie Dog
- Press Release: September 16, 2010 Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Utah Prairie Dog Released for Public Review
- Draft Revised Recovery Plan
On June 1, 2011, we announced a proposal to amend the protective regulations necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of the Utah prairie dog. The existing special rule which we propose to amend was established in 1991. We are proposing to revise the existing limits on take, and we also propose a new incidental take exemption for otherwise legal activities associated with standard agricultural practices. All other provisions of the special rule not relating to these amendments would remain unchanged.
- Federal Register Notice: June 1, 2011 Revising the Special Rule for the Utah Prairie Dog
- Press Release: June 1, 2011 Service Proposes to Amend Take Allowance for the Utah Prairie Dog
- Literature Cited
- Peer Review Plan
On June 20, 2011, the Service completed a revised petition finding for the Utah prairie dog and determined that there was not substantial information to show that reclassifying the species from threatened to endangered under the Endangered Species Act may be warranted.
- Federal Register Notice: June 20, 2011 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revised 90-Day Finding on a Petition to Reclassify the Utah Prairie Dog from Threatened to Endangered
- Press Release: June 20, 2011 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Will Not conduct In-Depth Review to Consider Reclassifying the Utah Prairie Dog from Threatened to Endangered
- Questions and Answers
