Blast Boulder's Prairie Dog Killing Plan

By Lauren Nolfo-Clements, Ph.D.

The Boulder, Colo., City Council decided to kill 200 to 300 prairie dogs at Valmont and Tom Watson parks, starting as soon as July 1. It is also considering killing upwards of 1,500 more on municipal lands, mostly parks, in the near future.

Concerns about potential conflicts with multi-use fields in the parks, future park development and landscaped commercial property are driving the prairie dog kill plan.

The decision signifies an alarming reversal of the city’s progressive policy of using non-lethal methods to resolve conflicts with prairie dogs until now. In the past, when conflicts arose between humans and prairie dogs, the city attempted to relocate the prairie dogs.

Prairie Dogs: Native Boulder Residents 

Within Boulder’s city limits are thousands of acres of black-tailed prairie dog colonies. The importance of these colonies to the ecosystem must not be underestimated: Prairie dog burrows create habitat for many other species, and the species plays a critical role in the health and function of grassland ecosystems.

Boulder officials justify the planned extermination by citing a lack of relocation sites, budget issues and a belief that urban black-tailed prairie dog populations are not essential to the survival of the species as a whole.

The city, however, has failed to perform any recent assessment of its open-space lands—which it continues to acquire at costs in the millions of dollars annually—to determine whether there are any vacant lands suitable for relocating the targeted prairie dogs. And while Boulder officials complain that the city is already spending too much on managing wildlife, its own figures indicate that only about 0.1 percent of Boulder’s budget goes to prairie wildlife management.

The idea that urban prairie dogs are of no ecological value is not only false but also ethically reprehensible. Considering the decimation of this species through habitat loss, human exploitation and introduced plague, every prairie dog is a vital component of both the genetic and social structure of a given colony.

A Strategy Doomed to Failure

Killing Boulder's prairie dogs is no guarantee that the lands will remain prairie-dog free in the long term. Experience has shown that prairie dogs quickly recolonize abandoned or cleared areas unless removal is followed by nonlethal exclusion techniques, which include well maintained physical barriers and habitat modification. One of the targeted sites, Tom Watson Park, is a perfect example: It has undergone at least four non-lethal relocations in the past, but, because the city failed to ensure total colony removal and maintain adequate barrier, each removal was followed by a recolonization. In fact, city employees have admitted to failing to maintain the "prairie dog free" area.

A Matter of Ethics and Law

Local conservationists, animal protection groups and scientists have questioned the ethical consequences of this planned kill. Boulder has a strong reputation for its progressive attitudes toward wildlife. This admirable approach to animals is reflected in the stringent guidelines that the city must adhere to in its dealings with wildlife. These very guidelines may thwart the City Council's prairie dog killing plan.

Boulder law requires anyone applying for a lethal control permit to illustrate that "…he or she has taken reasonable steps to control the situation by exclusion devices." The Boulder City Council has publicly admitted that the proper barriers have not been maintained at either of these sites.

Paradoxically, this negligence may be the very thing that halts this planned kill. The Boulder City Council should consider this situation an opportunity to rethink its motives and realize that maintaining its shining reputation is contingent upon its continued dedication to humane wildlife management.

Lauren Nolfo-Clements is a Wildlife Biologist for The Humane Society of the United States.