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During a series of questioning by Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) at today’s House Natural Resources Committee hearing, the U.S. Department of Interior Secretary, Sally Jewell, agreed to work with Rep. Stewart to ensure that the Department would include the count of prairie dogs dwelling on privately owned land when assessing the endangered species status. The Utah prairie dog is listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that occurs in southwestern Utah. Currently, the federal government regularly counts the number of prairie dogs on public land, but does not count the number of animals on private land. 

“It turns out that, like the human population, the prairie dogs prefer to live on land with well watered grass and crops,” Rep. Stewart said. “As a result, there often appears to be a larger population of prairie dogs in yards, parks, cemeteries, and fields than on federal lands. These prairie dogs often damage land and property, and the restrictive nature of the ESA makes it is very difficult to remove them from private lands. Additionally, we can’t delist prairie dogs if we’re not accurately counting them.”

“I appreciate Secretary Jewell’s willingness to work with our State to ensure that we get accurate counts of the animals being assessed through the Endangered Species Act,” Stewart said. “As this is a very important issues in southern Utah, my office will continue to work with the Department of the Interior and I am hopeful that we will see improvements in the assessments of Utah prairie dogs.”  

Watch the video of the exchange with Secretary Jewell below: