By VIVIENNE JANNATPOUR
Colorado Daily Staff
February 23, 2004
The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) has finalized its grasslands species conservation plan and has received a mixed response from stakeholders.
"Overall I think it's a good plan. It was a compromise. I don't think anybody was totally satisfied with it," said Jim McKee, Boulder County Nature Association board member.
"But if you completely satisfy one side or the other, you well may have done something wrong," he added.
The Conservation Plan for Grassland Species in Colorado is intended to ensure the long-range viability of short-grass species, namely black-tailed prairie dogs, mountain plovers, burrowing owls, swift foxes and ferruginous hawks and their habitats, said Todd Malmsbury, DOW media relations spokesperson.
However, Nicole Rosmarino with the Forest Guardians said she feels the plan lacks specific provisions protecting prairie dogs from their primary threats: poisoning, shooting and habitat destruction.
"A conservation plan for black-tailed prairie dogs and associated species should offer tangible measures to address those threats. This plan does not," she said.
Francie Pusateri, Grassland Species Coordinator with the DOW says the plan is intended to be broader and further reaching rather than specific to prairie dogs.
"The plan addresses more of a range of species and tries to address grasslands more on a large-scale than just specifically prairie dogs," she said. "I think the plan is a good one, it's pretty groundbreaking stuff, in terms of trying to meet such a diverse group of interests on something as controversial as prairie dogs."
The plan focuses primarily on partnerships with landowners, including financial incentives for easement and land management agreements. The majority of the remaining grasslands species habitat is on private land, and coordinated efforts are essential, Pusateri said.
"Over 70 percent of the grasslands in eastern Colorado are on private property, and to affect any kind of conservation you're going to have to do it in partnership with private land owners," she said.
But the requirements need to be clear, added Malmsbury. "We need to have incentive programs that allow them to work directly with us in a way that's going to benefit wildlife. We don't want simply to be a show of some sort. They have to work with us in specific plans."
Farmers and ranchers have incentives beyond the financial to cooperate. Many of the grassland species are edging near the threatened list. The black-tailed prairie dog is a candidate for the list and the mountain plover was denied listing by federal wildlife officials in September, but could be considered again in the future. A listing would mean federal restrictions for landowners.
"Many land owners recognize that it's clearly to their advantage, as well as being the right thing to do, to work to help prevent species from being listed, but also to recover the species so there's no longer a concern," Malmsbury said.
McKee agrees that avoiding the listing of a species is a big incentive. "Farmers and ranchers are pretty independent people. They'll do almost anything to keep the government from telling them what to do," he said.
The black-tailed prairie dog, though a candidate for listing, may be three times as abundant as previously suspected, Pusateri said.
"We thought we had around 214,000 acres. When we actually went out there and surveyed a lot of areas that nobody had inventoried before, we came up with 631,000 acres," she said.
But these numbers are being questioned by some interested groups, including Forest Guardians, the Denver Zoo, and the National Wildlife Federation.
Sterling Miller, Senior Wildlife Biologist with the National Wildlife Federation, flew with DOW biologists and found measurement problems.
"We don't believe that there are 631,000 acres of prairie dogs in eastern Colorado," he said. "Maybe we're wrong, but until these technique problems are resolved, then we don't think that that number is one in which anyone can have confidence."
Pusateri stands behind the numbers and said the next inventory is due in 2006. The plan also provides funding for further research investigating the percent occupancy of colonies and the density of active colonies.
"The plan is to put together another working group to review those 2006 results and make recommendations for changes that need to be made to the plan," she said.