01-12-2011, 12:10 PM
ALAMOSA, Colo. -- The Colorado Division of Wildlife will hold a public meeting to provide an update about ongoing work in the San Luis Valley for the conservation of the Gunnison's prairie dog. The meeting is scheduled for Jan. 19 from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Inn of the Rio Grande in Alamosa. The Inn of the Rio Grande is located at 333 Santa Fe Avenue, also known as Colo. Highway 160.
At the meeting, Division of Wildlife biologists will describe accomplishments of the Gunnison's prairie dog program during the last year and outline plans for 2011. This year, field staff will continue surveying and developing habitat management plans, while biologists are considering dusting prairie dog colonies with an insecticide to prevent outbreaks of plague.
Dan Tripp, the DOW's lead plague researcher, will discuss plague management efforts throughout Colorado.
Three kinds of prairie dogs live in Colorado: black-tailed, white-tailed and Gunnison's. Black-tailed prairie dogs are the most common and are found mainly east of the Front Range foothills. Gunnison's and white-tailed prairie dogs are less numerous and found in mountain valleys and parks in western and central Colorado.
All prairie dogs are key to the health of the ecosystems where they exist. They provide an important food source for predators such as hawks, badgers, coyotes, and foxes. Their colonies and burrows also provide habitat for a variety of other species.
Gunnison's prairie dogs are not currently listed as threatened or endangered. However, in 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated Gunnison's prairie dog populations located in central and south-central Colorado and north-central New Mexico as candidates for the Endangered Species List. That means these populations warrant protection of the Endangered Species Act, but that the Service is precluded from acting because available resources are devoted to other, higher-priority species. Each year, the Service conducts a status review of candidate species to analyze new information, including new or ongoing management actions designed to address threats to the species.
Proactive measures being taken by the Division to help support and enhance populations of Gunnison's prairie dog include working with landowners and other government agencies on a range-wide conservation plan designed to reduce the risk of negative impacts to prairie dog populations.
For more information about Gunnison's prairie dog management in Colorado go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpec...rategy.htm.
The meeting is informational; it is not a public hearing. For more information about the meeting, contact Kirk Navo at the DOW's Monte Vista office, (719) 587-6906; or by e-mail at k.navo@state.co.us.
For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.
At the meeting, Division of Wildlife biologists will describe accomplishments of the Gunnison's prairie dog program during the last year and outline plans for 2011. This year, field staff will continue surveying and developing habitat management plans, while biologists are considering dusting prairie dog colonies with an insecticide to prevent outbreaks of plague.
Dan Tripp, the DOW's lead plague researcher, will discuss plague management efforts throughout Colorado.
Three kinds of prairie dogs live in Colorado: black-tailed, white-tailed and Gunnison's. Black-tailed prairie dogs are the most common and are found mainly east of the Front Range foothills. Gunnison's and white-tailed prairie dogs are less numerous and found in mountain valleys and parks in western and central Colorado.
All prairie dogs are key to the health of the ecosystems where they exist. They provide an important food source for predators such as hawks, badgers, coyotes, and foxes. Their colonies and burrows also provide habitat for a variety of other species.
Gunnison's prairie dogs are not currently listed as threatened or endangered. However, in 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated Gunnison's prairie dog populations located in central and south-central Colorado and north-central New Mexico as candidates for the Endangered Species List. That means these populations warrant protection of the Endangered Species Act, but that the Service is precluded from acting because available resources are devoted to other, higher-priority species. Each year, the Service conducts a status review of candidate species to analyze new information, including new or ongoing management actions designed to address threats to the species.
Proactive measures being taken by the Division to help support and enhance populations of Gunnison's prairie dog include working with landowners and other government agencies on a range-wide conservation plan designed to reduce the risk of negative impacts to prairie dog populations.
For more information about Gunnison's prairie dog management in Colorado go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpec...rategy.htm.
The meeting is informational; it is not a public hearing. For more information about the meeting, contact Kirk Navo at the DOW's Monte Vista office, (719) 587-6906; or by e-mail at k.navo@state.co.us.
For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.