The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals out of Denver issued a mandate on Friday reinstating Utah prairie dogs as a threatened species on non-federal lands under the Endangered Species Act. The decision overturns a 2014 U.S. District Court decision that had transferred management of the prairie dog to the State of Utah and had removed federal ESA protection for the species. “Our focus now,” shares U.S. Fish and Wildlife Field Supervisor Larry Crist, “is to work cooperatively with our partners at the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, local counties, and landowners to continue conservation.” The Utah prairie dog was first listed as endangered in 1973 and was down-listed as threatened in 1984. The announcement states that recent Utah prairie dog population trends are stable and increasing but that the species remains vulnerable to the plague and loss of habitat.
