WTPD Conservation Assessment - Endangered Species & Wetlands ...

Predicted Range Model
Montana represents 0.9% of both the gross and predicted range of the white-tailed prairie
dog (Table 1). Agricultural lands impact 7% of the gross range within Montana and 0% of the
gross range is being impacted by urban development (Table 6 and 7). Forty-seven percent of the
gross range and 49% of the predicted range in Montana occurs on private lands (Table 10). With
the possible exception of a single colony, urban and oil and gas development are not currently
threatening habitats within the predicted range of the white-tailed prairie dog in Montana.
Limiting Factors
Disease, historic eradication efforts and conversion of shrub/grassland habitats to
agriculture were most likely causes for the decline of white-tailed prairie dog populations in
Montana. In one of the currently occupied colonies, highway traffic may pose some risk to the
local population. On one colony where plague was suspected, sagebrush plants were found
growing in silted-in mouths of old burrows during a 1997 survey. Of the three plants collected,
one was 5 years old and two were 4 years old. This evidence implies that burrows were silted in,
to the point of providing a suitable seed bed for sagebrush, as early as 1992. Considering soil
type and precipitation in this area, it is logical to assume that siltation of vacant burrows would
take place in 1 to 3 years. Therefore, white-tailed prairie dog colonies may have been impacted
by plague as early as 1989 to 1991 (Montana Prairie Dog Working Group 2002).
Utah
Monitoring Efforts
A Statewide evaluation of the distribution and population status of white-tailed prairie
dogs in Utah is confounded by a history of incomplete and inconsistent surveys, and variable
time periods between estimates at specific sites. The only comprehensive effort to quantify
prairie dog distribution was conducted by Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) in 2002
to 2003. Previous efforts to account for the Statewide distribution of white-tailed prairie dogs
were incomplete. Therefore, trends in occupied habitat of white-tailed prairie dogs in Utah over
time must be inferred from evaluation of quantitative data collected on a limited number of sites.
In addition, white-tailed prairie dog colonies occur on private lands, and trespass restrictions
prevent foot access for field surveys. Consequently, the data presented below represent
minimum estimates of both white-tailed prairie dog distribution and abundance.
The first concerted effort to document prairie dog distribution and abundance throughout
Utah occurred in 1968 when the Division of Wildlife, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife
(later renamed the UDWR) compiled a map of Utah, Gunnison’s and white-tailed prairie dog
colonies using knowledge from professional biologists throughout the State (Bureau of Sport
Fisheries and Wildlife 1968). The effort produced a rough map of white-tailed prairie dog
distribution, but did not attempt to quantify occupied habitat by each species. This collaboration
identified both the Uintah Basin in northeastern Utah and Castle Valley in eastern Utah (south of
Price and west and east of US State Highway 10) as areas supporting the greatest amount of
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