White-tailed prairie dog not to be listed under ESA

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released a notice announcing that the white-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys leucurus) is not warranted for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Fifteen years and numerous lawsuits have passed since the species was first considered for listing under the ESA. This most recent notice resulted from a 2014 court order that remanded a 2010 “not warranted” finding back to the Service for reconsideration.=

For this finding, the Service identified and considered the impacts of stressors to the species including agricultural activities, shooting, poisoning, overgrazing, invasive weeds, wildfire, urbanization, development, drought and plague. The Service found these stressors do not, alone or in combination, rise to a level that warrants listing the species.

Read the Service’s press release here.