Devils Tower National Monument PRAIRIE DOG MANAGEMENT PLAN (Blank page) Table of Contents INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 1 PURPOSE AND NEED ................................................................................................................ 2 Purpose of the Management Plan ....................................................................................... 2 Need for the Management Plan ........................................................................................... 2 Purpose and Significance of Park ....................................................................................... 4 PRAIRIE DOG OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................... 4 PRAIRIE DOGS AS KEYSTONE SPECIES ............................................................................ 7 HISTORY OF BLACK-TAILED PRAIRIE DOGS MANAGEMENT AT DEVILS TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT ......................................................................................... 7 LAW AND POLICY OVERVIEW ............................................................................................. 8 NPS Management Policies .................................................................................................. 8 Endangered Species Act ..................................................................................................... 9 National Environmental Protection Act .............................................................................. 9 State or other Species-of-Concern ...................................................................................... 9 Public Health ..................................................................................................................... 10 Integrated Pest Management ............................................................................................. 10 Pesticide Use ..................................................................................................................... 10 Animal Welfare Act, and Animal Care and Use Committee ............................................ 11 RELATED PLANS AND PROJECTS...................................................................................... 11 DESIRED FUTURE CONDITION OF THE BLACK-TAILED PRAIRIE DOGS POPULATION AND HABITAT AT DEVILS TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT ........ 14 PRAIRIE DOG MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................ 14 Impact Topics and Management Issues ............................................................................ 14 Natural Resource Topics/Issues ............................. 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Preventative Management Actions ................................................................................... 15 Effective Communications ................................................................................................ 16 Triggers for Management Actions .................................................................................... 16 Management Action Options ............................................................................................ 17 Monitoring and Research ...................................................................................... 18 Live-Trapping and Relocation .............................................................................. 18 Reintroduction....................................................................................................... 19 Lethal Control for Reduction or Eradication ........................................................ 20 Interpretation and Public Education ...................................................................... 20 Standard Operating Procedure for Plague Outbreak ............................................. 21 PLAN FOLLOW-UP AND EVALUATION ............................................................................ 21 Management Action Reporting ......................................................................................... 21 Evaluation of Management Actions Taken ....................................................................... 21 Evaluation and Revision of Plan ....................................................................................... 21 LITERATURE CITED .............................................................................................................. 23 APPENDICES. ............................................................................................................................ 28 APPENDIX A: BLACK-TAILED PRAIRIE DOG TAXONOMY, DESCRIPTION, DISTRIBUTION, AND LIFE HISTORY. ....................................................................... 29 APPENDIX B: PLAGUE AND FLEA MONITORING .................................................. 37 APPENDIX C: DEVILS TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR PLAGUE MONITORING AND RESPONSE ...... 51 APPENDIX D: PROTOCOLS FOR ESTABISHING PHYSICAL BARRIERS ............ 75 APPENDIX E: PRAIRIE DOG TRAPPING/HANDLING/TRANSPORTING PROTOCOL ..................................................................................................................... 81 APPENDIX F: LITERATURE SOURCES ...................................................................... 84 APPENDIX G: COST ESTIMATES FOR TREATMENT OPTIONS ............................ 91 APPENDIX H: PRAIRIE DOG POINTS OF CONTACT .............................................. 94 APPENDIX I: ENVIRONMENTAL SCREENING FORM .......................................... 110 INTRODUCTION Devils Tower National Monument is located at the northwestern edge of the Black Hills in northeastern Wyoming. Devils Tower, a monolith of igneous rock, rises 867 feet above the surrounding grassland and ponderosa pine forest and is a dominant landmark in the northern Great Plains. Within the landscape of the monument is a small portion of short grass prairie that includes a black-tailed prairie dog (BTPD: Cynomys ludovicianus) population. Black-tailed prairie dogs are considered a keystone species of the mixed grass prairie because they significantly affect ecosystem structure, function, and composition, and their impact on the prairie is not duplicated by any other species (Kotliar et al. 1999; Miller et al. 2000). A range of native wildlife species depend on prairie dogs and their burrow systems for survival. Historically, prairie dogs have been considered a pest species and subjected to widespread eradication programs because of their effects on livestock grazing and croplands (Forrest and Luchsinger 2006). At Devils Tower National Monument, black-tailed prairie dogs are the second most popular visitor attraction after the tower itself. Devils Tower National Monument does not currently have a Prairie Dog Management Plan. The current prairie dog colony comprises around 40 acres in the southeast corner of the monument. The colony has required population control measures to prevent encroachment into high visitor use areas. An EA (NPS 2000) was completed in 2000 to address the issue of prairie dogs encroaching on high visitor use areas at Devils Tower National Monument. In subsequent years, these control measures require categorical exclusions due to a lack of a prairie dog management plan. Devils Tower National Monument is putting forward this Prairie Dog Management Plan with management strategies that are consistent with the latest resource objectives and policies of the National Park Service. The primary purposes of developing this management plan for the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) at Devils Tower National Monument are to: propose and evaluate an approach for sustaining a long-term population of prairie dogs that meets other park objectives; conserve natural processes and conditions; identify tools to manage the prairie dog population in the park; manage park resources in accordance with the park’s general management plan (NPS 2001) and NPS Management Policies 2006 (NPS 2006); and to protect public health, safety, and welfare. The resulting plan would be used to manage prairie dogs in the monument until the plan is obsolete or no longer feasible. The management strategies and options identified in this plan are based on an adaptive management approach. This management approach recognizes that knowledge of natural resources and associated processes are often limited, unknown, or difficult to predict. As such, adaptive management requires (1) management actions to be based on clearly identified goals and outcomes, (2) the use of monitoring to ensure management actions are meeting the identified goals/outcomes, and (3) the use of new information to re-evaluate management activities and goals and/or to facilitate management changes, if needed. 1 Although this document is intended to guide the long-term management of prairie dogs at Devils Tower National Monument it is essential that identified management goals and outcomes be evaluated on a regular basis using information gained through the adaptive management process. This will ensure that management goals and approaches are credible and reflect an increasing scientific knowledge base. PURPOSE AND NEED Purpose of the Management Plan The following objectives are more specific