Interagency Management Plan for Gunnison’s Prairie Dogs in Arizona
- Identifies minimum number of active acres to be maintained in Arizona (108,353 acres)
- Requires maintaining prairie dog populations across 75% of their historic range
- Directs monitoring incidence of plague and threats to habitat
- Requires development of mitigation program for urban prairie dogs
In 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was petitioned to list the Gunnison’s prairie dog for protection under the Endangered Species Act. As a result of this petition, the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies created the Gunnison’s Prairie Dog Conservation Assessment (Seglund et al. 2006) to assess the conservation concerns of the species. The Conservation Assessment led to the White-tailed Prairie Dog and Gunnison’s Prairie Dog Conservation Strategy (WAWFA 2006) a guide for each state within the range of these species to write its own state prairie dog management plan for conservation. In Arizona, the Arizona Game and Fish Department created a Gunnison’s Prairie Dog Working Group to assist with the drafting of its state plan. Habitat Harmony, Inc. is pleased to have been an active member of the Gunnison’s Prairie Dog Working Group since its inception in 2006. The final draft of the Interagency Management Plan for Gunnison’s Prairie Dogs in Arizona (Underwood, 2007) was finished in December 2007, and will serve as a comprehensive conservation guide for Gunnison’s prairie dogs in Arizona.