DOW Extends Prairie Dog Comment Period

The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) has extended the time period for submitting comments on the "Colorado Gunnison's and White-tailed Prairie Dog Conservation Plan." Comments from the public will be accepted through Jan. 5, 2009.

The conservation plan, when final, will be used as a guide to maintain these two species on native range  in Colorado. The plan can be viewed on the Colorado Division of Wildlife website at: http://wildlife.state.co.us/.
 
The Gunnison's prairie dog is found mainly in southwest Colorado, the San Luis Valley and in South Park; the white-tailed prairie dog is found primarily in northwest Colorado but its range extends into the Uncompahgre Valley south of Montrose.
 
The goals of the conservation plan are to:

· Develop and implement conservation strategies that will work to prevent the need to list the two species under the Endangered Species Act.

·  Promote conservation of not only the two species, but also their habitats and associated wildlife species.

·  Implement conservation strategies to help mitigate negative impacts to the two species.

·  Identify research needs that will help guide appropriate conservation of populations.

·  Focus use of Colorado's existing regulatory mechanisms to maintain species viability.

·  Increase stakeholder and other agencies' participation in prairie dog conservation.
 
The public is invited to make comments on the DOW plan. Send comments to Amy.Seglund@state.co.us. by Jan. 5.  Comments via e-mail are preferred. For those who do not have access to the Internet, send comments to Seglund at 2300 S. Townsend Ave., Montrose, CO, 81401.

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