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US Fish & Wildlife Service U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Utah Prairie Dog (Cynomys parvidens) FINAL REVISED RECOVERY PLAN Original Recovery Plan Completed in 1991 Prepared by: Utah Ecological Services Office U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service West Valley City, Utah and Utah Prairie Dog Recovery Team for Mountain-Prairie Region U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Denver, Colorado March 2012 DISCLAIMER Recovery plans use the best available information to identify reasonable actions for protecting and recovering listed species. Plans are published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and are sometimes prepared with the assistance of recovery teams, contractors, State agencies, or others. Attainment of recovery objectives and availability of funds are subject to budgetary and other constraints as well as the need to address other priorities. Nothing in this plan should be construed as a commitment or requirement for any Federal agency to obligate or pay funds in contravention of the Anti-Deficiency Act, 31 U.S.C. 1341, or any other law or regulation. Recovery plans do not necessarily represent the views, official position, or approval of any individuals or agencies involved in plan formulation other than the USFWS. They represent the official position of the USFWS only after they are signed by the Regional Director. Approved plans are subject to modification as dictated by new findings, changes in species’ status, and the completion of recovery actions. The literature citation for this document should read: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2012. Utah Prairie Dog (Cynomys parvidens) Revised Recovery Plan. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Denver, CO. 169 pp. Additional copies of the document can be obtained from: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2369 West Orton Circle, Suite 50 West Valley City, Utah 84119 Phone: 801-975-3330 Fax: 801-975-3331 Recovery plans can be downloaded from: http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/SpeciesRecovery.do iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The information and recommendations in this revision of the Utah Prairie Dog Recovery Plan derive in large part from the cooperative efforts of Utah Prairie Dog Recovery Team members and participants: Recovery Team Members Kate Novak U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Nathan Brown USFWS (previously with UDWR) Ron Bolander Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Ron Rodriguez U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Sarah Haas Bryce Canyon National Park Karen Fullen Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Keith Day Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) Nicole Frey Utah State University Extension Mark Petersen Utah Farm Bureau Ted Toombs Environmental Defense Recovery Team Participants Laura Romin, USFWS; Elise Boeke, NRCS (previously with USFWS); Rebecca Bonebrake, BLM; Jake Schoppe, USFS; Lisa Church, BLM; Casey Burns, NRCS; Bonnie Bell, USFWS; Kristin Legg, Zion National Park; Neil Perry, UDWR; Teresa Bonzo, UDWR; Christopher Keleher, Utah Department of Natural Resources; Jan Andersen, Utah Farm Bureau; In addition, we gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the following individuals for their assistance and peer review during development of this Recovery Plan: Mary Parkin, USFWS; Peer Reviewers—Dr. Mark Ritchie, Syracuse University; Dr. Dean Biggins, U.S. Geological Survey; Dan Licht, National Park Service; Dr. Gary White, Colorado State University; Dr. David Wilcove, Princeton University iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Current Species Status: The Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens) , found only in southwestern and central Utah, was listed as an endangered species on June 4, 1973 (38 FR 14678). At the time of listing, the species was threatened by habitat destruction and modification, over-exploitation, disease, and predation. Subsequently, Utah prairie dog populations increased in portions of their range, and on May 29, 1984 (49 FR 22330), the species was reclassified as threatened with a special rule to allow regulated take of the species. This special rule was amended on June 14, 1991 (56 FR 27438), to increase the amount of regulated take allowed throughout the species’ range. Recent Utah prairie dog population trends appear to be stable to increasing, although the species remains vulnerable to several serious threats. These include habitat loss and fragmentation, plague, changing climatic conditions, unauthorized take, and disturbance from recreational and economic land uses. Habitat Requirements and Limiting Factors: Utah prairie dogs prefer swale-type formations where moist herbaceous vegetation is available even during drought periods (Collier 1975). Grasses and forbs are preferred food items during all seasons, and prairie dogs appear to select particular forage species rather than choosing foods based on availability (Crocker-Bedford and Spillett 1981). Vegetation quality and quantity are important in helping Utah prairie dogs survive hibernation, lactation, and other high nutrient demand times (Environmental Defense 2007). Plant species richness is correlated with increased weight gain, higher juvenile to adult ratios, and higher animal densities (Crocker-Bedford and Spillett 1981; Ritchie and Cheng 2001). Utah prairie dogs will avoid areas where brushy species dominate, and will eventually decline or disappear in areas invaded by brush (Collier 1975; Player and Urness 1982). Open habitats are important for foraging, visual surveillance to escape predators, and intraspecific interactions (Player and Urness 1982). Well-drained, deep soils (at least 3.3 ft (1 m) deep) are needed for burrowing. Burrows provide the prairie dog with protection from predators and insulation from environmental extremes. Soil color may aid in disguising prairie dogs from surface predators and thus may be an added survival factor (Turner 1979; Collier 1975). Recovery Strategy: The recovery of Utah prairie dogs will rely on effective conservation responses to the issues facing the species, which remain varied and complex. These issues include plague, urban expansion, overgrazing, cultivated agriculture, vegetation community changes, invasive plants, off-highway vehicle and recreation uses, climate change, energy resource exploration and development, fire management, poaching, and predation. Strategically, these issues can be reduced to two overriding concerns: loss and fragmentation of habitat, and plague. Our recovery strategy for the Utah prairie dog focuses on the need to address habitat loss and fragmentation and disease through a program that encompasses threats abatement, population management, research, and monitoring. We emphasize 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. v Recovery Goals, Objectives, and Criteria Goal : The goal of this plan is to recover the Utah prairie dog such that it no longer meets the Endangered Species Act’s definition of threatened and can be removed from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife (i.e., delisted). Objectives : The recovery objectives for the Utah prairie dog are: 1) To protect suitable habitat that is of sufficient size to support a viable Utah prairie dog population and is spatially distributed to provide connectivity within each Recovery Unit (RU), and 2) To establish and maintain viable Utah prairie dog populations in each RU. Criteria : 1. At least 5,000 ac (2,023 ha) of occupied habitat are protected in perpetuity in each RU (West Desert, Paunsaugunt, and Awapa Plateau). These occupied habitat criteria will be spatially distributed to provide sufficient connectivity and gene flow within each RU. 2. At least 2,000 adult animals (at least 1,000 counted adults in the spring counts) are present in each RU (West Desert, Paunsaugunt, and Awapa Plateau) within protected habitat for 5 consecutive years. 3. Management strategies are in place to prevent and respond to threats from disease. 4. Education, outreach, and public relations programs and State and/or local regulations are in place and are sufficient to minimize illegal take, manage legal lethal control post-delisting, and foster habitat management practices. 5. Utah prairie dog-specific adaptive management strategies are in place on protected lands to improve suitable habitat in a manner that also will facilitate management responses to changing climatic conditions and other threat factors that are difficult to predict. Actions Needed: 1. Evaluate and update the occurrence and distribution data, maps, and survey efforts for the Utah prairie dog across its known range, as information becomes available. 2. Conserve sufficient acreages and distribution of occupied Utah prairie dog habitat on Federal, State, Tribal, and private lands. 3. Minimize impacts of diseases to Utah prairie dogs via research efforts, a plague prevention and response plan, and a monitoring strategy. 4. Develop the capability and implement actions as needed to respond to natural disturbances (e.g., drought, fire). 5. Continue the translocation of Utah prairie dogs to suitable habitat using approved protocols. 6. Develop and implement a public outreach program that promotes a better understanding of and appreciation for the biological and habitat values of the Utah prairie dog as well as tolerance of the species. 7. Develop and implement research priorities to identify and evaluate threats, and create tools to expand Utah prairie dog colonies where appropriate to assist with adaptive management and conservation of the species. vi 8. Incorporate
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