Action Alerts

Ask Senator Salazar to Support the Endangered Species Act
Stapleton Continues to Slaughter Prairie Dogs!
Relocate Prairie Dogs to Pawnee National Grasslands

Ask Senator Salazar to Support the Endangered Species Act

Bald eagle (courtesy of Victor Love Photography)

Learn more about this issue by downloading the following fact sheets:
Endangered Species Act (Word doc 245kb)
Representative Richard Pombo's Anti-Endangered Species Bill H.R. 3824 (Word doc 37kb)
Analysis of the "Collaboration and Recovery of Endangered Species Act" (S. 2110) (Word doc 33kb)

The Senate may soon take action on the Endangered Species Act that could eventually gut the Act. And Senator Salzar, D-CO, has yet to express unequivocal opposition to any legislation in the current Congress that could gut or weaken the Act. Please write Senator Salazar today!

For more than 30 years, the Endangered Species Act has been a safety net for wildlife, fish, and plants on the brink of extinction. It has been successful in preventing the extinction of the Canada lynx, black-footed ferret, American bald eagle, the gray wolf, the Pacific salmon and many other species.

However, the Endangered Species Act is under threat from special interests and the politicians they give money to. The House of Representatives has passed a bill by Rep. Pombo that would significantly weaken vital protections for endangered species and their habitat. It is now up to the U.S. Senate to save the Endangered Species Act, and it is critically important that Senator Salazar hears from Coloradoans on this issue.

Please write Senator Salazar today and ask him to support a strong Endangered Species Act and oppose any effort in the 109th Congress to alter or weaken the Endangered Species Act.

Please state why you feel the Endangered Species Act and biodiversity are important. Address your letter to:
Hon. Sen. Ken Salazar
2300 15th Street, Suite 450
Denver, CO 80202

P.S. Please ask your friends, relatives, and colleagues to join you in writing. It only takes a few minutes of your time, but the results could last a lifetime.

Background on the Endangered Species Act

The House of Representatives passed a bill in September 2005 that would significantly weaken protections for endangered species and habitat. If Representative Pombo’s bill (HR 3824) becomes law, it would eliminate habitat protection, abandon the commitment to recovering species on the brink of extinction, repeal protections against hazardous pesticides, and politicize the scientific decision-making process. In addition, it would set up an unprecedented entitlement program that would require the federal government to use taxpayers dollars to pay developers for complying with the Endangered Species Act’s prohibition against killing or injuring endangered species.

It is now up to the Senators to stand up and save the Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act is a successful law. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, over 99% of species given the Act’s protection are still with us today; their extinction has been prevented. In addition, the American public supports the Endangered Species Act. A poll by Decision Research illustrated that 86% of American voters support the Endangered Species Act.

The Endangered Species Act is a safety net for wildlife, plants, and fish that are on the brink of extinction. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to be good stewards of the environment and leave behind a legacy of protecting endangered species and the special places they call home.

Stapleton Continues to Slaughter Prairie Dogs!

Forest City, the development company responsible for building a city on the old Stapleton Airport land, has been bulldozing prairie dogs for more than a year. Earlier, they agreed to preserve 200 acres of shortgrass prairie, complete with prairie dogs. They even paid relocators to move animals in the path of construction.

Now everything has changed. The land allocated for prairie is reduced to 25 acres. The relocated prairie dogs have been bulldozed. Hundreds more prairie dogs are being bulldozed right now to make way for additional homes, groomed parks, and shopping malls.

Why does the City and County of Denver allow this slaughter? Why did Forest City go back on its word and destroy the native wildlife that once was treated with respect? Why does Forest City refuse to listen to citizens who want wild places in their city?

What You Can Do

1. Distribute this information to as many people as possible. With enough pressure, the Mayor may force Forest City to use humane methods of dealing with the prairie dogs impacted by construction.
2. Contact he following representatives and express your outrage at the treatment of Colorado's native wildlife:

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper
Mayor's Scheduler
Anthony Aragon
720.865.9000
MileHighMayor@ci.denver.co.us

Forest City Stapleton
Vice President of Construction Charlie Nicola
303.382.1800
www.stapletondenver.com/contact/stapleton.asp

Denver Department of Parks and Recreation
Manager Kim Bailey
720.913.0739
Send comments via e-mail at: www.denvergov.org/talktous/default.asp

Your state and local representatives

Please suggest solutions. Listed below are some responsible ways of addressing this problem:
1. Identify land on Stapleton and relocate the surviving prairie dogs. Insure this land will remain safe for the animals by designating it open space in perpetuity.
2. Work with the City and County of Denver to identify land for relocation. This land may be part of Denver's Natural Areas public land.
3. Purchase land outside of Stapleton and/or Denver's boundaries and purchase it as a shortgrass prairie preserve. This joint project would bring positive attention to the partnership, while providing citizens an area to view hawks, eagles, burrowing owls, swift foxes, and the many plants, birds, and animals that inhabit this ecosystem.

Sample letter available for download (Word doc 22 KB)

Relocate Prairie Dogs to Pawnee National Grasslands

(Great info from Linn Barrett.)

Did you know that the Pawnee National Grassland in Weld County, Colorado, contains 193,060 acres of prairie (ideal habitat for black-tailed prairie dogs) but that at present, prairie dogs inhabit only 1,659 acres of that habitat? As you know, the amount of land suitable for relocating imperiled prairie dogs is diminishing!

On January the 28th I met with Steve Currey and Beth Humphrey, Rangers of the Pawnee National Grassland (PNG), to discuss the possibility of relocating prairie dogs to the PNG. Mr. Currey informed me that he needs to complete an Environmental Assessment (EA) before he can make a decision to relocate prairie dogs to the PNG.

Funds for the EA must be allocated into the budget by James Bedwell of the Forest Service. Unfortunately at present, Mr. Bedwell is not willing to allocate funds for an EA on the Pawnee National Grassland. Perhaps this is because Mr. Bedwell is not aware that the public WANTS an EA and wants to open the grassland to relocated prairie dogs.

Let's make Mr. Bedwell aware that we care. Please use the letter below. Copy it into a word processing program, fill in your name, address, and date, print the letter, and mail it to Jim Bedwell (address is on the letter).

I also have an electronic version of a petition available. If you would like to collect signatures, please let me know at barrett@cira.colostate.edu

LETTER

James S. Bedwell
Forest Supervisor, United States Department of Agriculture
Arapaho Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland
240 West Prospect Road
Fort Collins, CO 80526

[Today's Date Here]
Re: Request for Funding to Survey the Pawnee National Grassland
Dear Mr. Bedwell,
The Pawnee National Grassland contains 193,060 acres of prairie and offers ideal habitat for black-tailed prairie dogs. However at present, prairie dogs inhabit only 1,659 acres of that habitat. Surely, the Pawnee National Grassland can render more than 1,659 acres to prairie dog habitat!

I write this letter to ask you to fund the completion of a Prairie Dog Management Plan for the Pawnee National Grassland (PNG). Steve Currey, District Ranger of the Pawnee National Grassland, is willing to consider relocation of prairie dogs onto the grassland but only after he has completed an Environmental Assessment (EA) on the entire grassland. Mr. Currey would like to complete an EA and write a Prairie Dog Management Plan to discuss management of prairie dogs on the entire Pawnee National Grassland, with relocation being a piece of that management.

As you know, scientists estimate a 98%-99% decline in historic black-tailed prairie dog acreage and the species has been deemed "warranted but precluded" for listing on the Endangered Species List. At the same time, the rate of land development in Colorado is steadily increasing and urban sprawl is taking its toll on the prairie dog ecosystem. Across the Great Plains, habitat destruction (including urban sprawl, coal-bed methane, and continued conversion to cropland), and prairie dog shooting and poisoning are degrading natural grassland ecosystems. Hundreds of prairie dogs are exterminated each day. Live relocation has become nearly impossible because pristine prairie acreage has become more difficult to locate. In view of this situation, the black-tailed prairie dog is clearly at risk for extirpation or worse yet, extinction!

As an advocate for conservation of the black-tailed prairie dog, I turn to you for help and I ask you to open the Pawnee National Grassland to prairie dogs relocated from sites that imperil them. As the new fiscal year approaches, please allocate funds sufficient enough to allow for a thorough, grassland-wide analysis in order to determine what portions of the grassland would be suitable to receive relocated prairie dogs. Thank you.

Sincerely,
[Your Name and Address Here]
download a Word.doc version of this letter