Welcome to the Prairie Dog Coalition Website

** Please note: We are in the process of integrating our website with that of our parent organization, The Humane Society of the United States. Please visit humanesociety.org/pdc for the latest news and updates. **

Save the Date

Mark your calendar now for The Prairie Dog Coalition's "Living on Burrowed Time" 2012 gala.

Early birds (the smart ones) can RSVP now.

Living on Burrowed Time VIII

VIP reception starts at 5:00 p.m.
General reception starts at 5:30 p.m.
$100 per ticket
Enjoy fine dining, libations, music, dancing, and friends and big on fabulous prizes in the live and silent auctions. Proceeds will support the Prairie Dog Coalition's work to save prairie dogs, associated species, and their ecosystem.

A very special prize is still available: A four-night stay at a picturesque artist's retreat in San Miguel, Mexico. Learn more!

We are proud to honor Terry Tempest Williams for her work to protect prairie dogs. Not only did Mrs. Williams' 2008 book Finding Beauty in a Broken World bring international attention to the prairie dog's plight, but she has also spent countless hours in the field observing colonies and working behind the scenes to build support for the animals. She created Prairie Dog Day, a Groundhog Day for the West, and taught hundreds of students how important prairie dogs are. For this and more, we honor Terry Tempest Williams.

For more information, go to our RSVP page for Living on Burrowed Time, email Lindsey Sterling Krank or call (720) 938-0788.

Southern Plains Land Trust Day at the Watercourse in Denver!

Stop by WaterCourse Foods on Monday, March 5, to support the Southern Plains Land Trust (SPLT). The restaurant will be open from 11am-10pm. Dine in or dine out, get baked goods to go, and a portion of your purchase goes right to SPLT, in support of our efforts to protect the prairie and prairie wildlife. SPLT is an awesome, active member of the Prairie Dog Coalition. Support them today and March 5th at the Watercourse!

Time Goes By

The Prairie Dog Coalition's "Living on Burrowed Time" gala on Oct. 28,2012, honored Ted Turner with the 2011 Prairie Dog Protector award and feted other heroes for prairie dogs. We applaud all the attendees for showing their support and spending a memorable evening with us.

The photos below will give you the flavor of this glittering evening.

Ted Turner and Nick Forster shared their thoughts with the crowd.

The HSUS' Melissa Rubin and Lindsey Sterling Krank praised the honorees.

Ted Turner mingled with the other Telluride prairie dog advocates.

Our Sponsors

These very generous sponsors helped to make the Living on Burrowed Time event a success. Huge thanks to our sponsors!

Protector of the Prairie
Momentum Fund
David & Julie Worthington

Great Plains Conservationist
Rainforest Expeditions
Red Empress Foundation

Prairie Dog Ecosystem Connector
Friends of Wildlife Land Trust

Prairie Dog Coterie Protector
Bob and Holly Larson
Southern Plains Land Trust

See our sponsors' page to learn more about these individuals, foundations, and groups who are helping so greatly with our mission.

Contacting Your Legislators

Anyone can help prairie dogs by getting in touch with their elected officials and asking for legislation and policies that treat these animals like the important keystone species they are. Here's where to look up your federal or state legislators...and then get in touch.

On the Ground at the Thunder Basin Prairie Dog Relocation Project

An innovative attempt to protect prairie dogs in Wyoming.

Prairie Dogs Have Their Day

Relocation project literally breaks ground to save them.

Thank You to Mountain Khakis for outfitting our relocation with their awesome gear!

Visit Mountain Khakis today!

For the Love of Water

LIVING IN BALANCE FROM THE HEART with JoAnne Dodgson, Ed.D. (www.pathwaysforhealing.net)

“It was the prairie dogs,” she smiled, looking over her lush vegetable garden. During the hot desert summer, Sofia had been concerned her plants wouldn’t survive. She didn’t own rights to the fresh water streaming by in the acequia, the irrigation ditch leading from the river to her neighbors’ fields. Looking around the land, still trying to piece together her story, I silently wrestled with the idea that somebody owned the water. And what had the prairie dogs done?

A chattering flock of chickens and two woolly sheep watched attentively as Sofia and I gingerly walked through the garden. We admired the leafy greens, the diverse shapes, colors and stages of the growth of the vegetables. Sofia told me how feeding her baby these homegrown foods was so important to her. “It was the prairie dogs who brought the water, ” she said with delight.

Not everybody smiles when they talk about prairie dogs. There are those who go to great lengths and use quite horrific means to get prairie dogs off their lands. Because prairie dogs like to live in large extended family groups. And prairie dogs love to dig. They are gifted architects of underground tunnels, instinctively building extensive networks of burrows for their homes. Many people don’t want these wild animals disturbing their gardens or manicured lawns.

Last summer, here in the desert valley, the acequia gate was opened as usual and the river water flowed into the irrigation ditch which by-passed Sofia’s land. Unexpectedly, because of the prairie dogs, the water had a new underground network of pathways to follow. Water seeped into these hidden tunnels and found it’s way to the very roots of the plants in Sofia’s garden – inviting the garden to flourish and provide abundant food for her family, not to mention delectable treats for the chickens, deer and rabbits too.

Prairie dogs live deeply connected with the soils of the earth. Water passionately flows, touching and nourishing life along it’s way. Precious resources, unexpected gifts and creative collaborations come alive when we’re not warring against “the bad guys,” even the little furry ones.

Cherishing the mother earth.
Loving the water.
Trusting the natural flow.
How beautiful life can be.

Manaole U Manaole,

from my heart to the heart of the mother earth to your heart,

JoAnne Dodgson

The Mission of the Prairie Dog Coalition

For the benefit of treasured wildlife, the Prairie Dog Coalition is dedicated to the protection of imperiled prairie dogs and restoration of their ecosystems. To accomplish this mission, we provide information and advocacy training, facilitate communication and planning, and promote conservation projects.

We are an alliance of non-profit organizations, concerned citizens, and scientists dedicated to the protection of prairie dogs and restoration of prairie dog ecosystems. Survival of the prairie dog is critical to the continued existence of the prairie ecosystem—one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world.

iTwixie Studies Prairie Dogs: Week Seventeen

Prairie Dog Day honors Luke Zitting (on the right below) with Humane Hero award!

Click here to read more about the awesome work this 12 year old from Utah is doing for the prairie dogs!

The Prairie Dog Coalition and The Humane Society of the United States Join Forces!

This fall, the PDC became a program of the HSUS.

Click here to read more details.

If you’d like to make a donation to our work, checks should now be written to the Prairie Dog Coalition of HSUS. THANK YOU!!!
Click here to donate to the Prairie Dog Coalition. Your donation on this webpage will go straight towards prairie dog work.

The spring and summer months can be a challenging time for prairie dogs and their ecosystems. After having an average of 3 to 5 pups in the spring, prairie dogs are active and exploring their ecosystems, eating and communicating. Human development and urban sprawl can also increase during the warm months. Prairie dogs are more apt to move to new locations, potentially getting lost, stuck, and put in danger when development spreads to their homes. Prairie dogs living on land which is earmarked for development, if not humanely relocated by the responsible party, are bulldozed to death, trapped and buried alive, or at risk of being poisoned, a cruel process which can leave them clinging to life, and suffering for up to 72 hours.

For all these reasons, there is a dramatic rise in the number of distress calls we receive from concerned citizens in the spring and summer months. Please use the resources on our website to help if you find a prairie dog individual or colony in harm's way, and know that we are here to assist you if you don't find what you need online.

If you need additional assistance from a relocator or behavior expert, try emailing them directly. If you need help from a coalition representative, or you don't know who to contact, please feel free to email us: info@prairiedogcoalition.org

Remember, when there are prairie dogs on a piece of land where they are not welcome, there ARE options, and poisoning is never the answer with this important keystone species.

Alternatives include active or passive relocation, barriers, and a variety of other deterrent methods. Relocators can provide consulting and more details on these options.

Please use the vast library of information on our website, do your own research on the issue using a search engine, and contact us if you need help in a state where there are no prairie dog relocators.

Please see the "Events & Issues" page for more information!

Stay tuned for our newest feature: Adopt a Prairie Dog! Your adoption fees will help the PDC advocate for prairie dogs and their ecosystems.

Zack the Prairie Dog Announcement

New book promotes prairie and autism awareness!

25% of all book sales go to the PDC!!!
Get yours today and make a difference!

For every book sold through the following link www.zacktheprairiedog.com 25% of the proceeds go back to Prairie Dog Coalition. Simply mention "Please support Prairie Dog Coalition" in the comment section of your order. Click here to find out more and read a letter from the author.

Prairie Dog Day Radio Interview!

- By KGNU Programmer Roger Wendell

On Monday morning, February 2nd (2009), I had the good fortune to conduct a Prairie Dog interview on A Public Affair, one of the radio programs I host at KGNU. My guests were Lindsey Sterling Krank and Dr. C. N. Slobodchikoff. Lindsey is an environmental scientist and Executive Director of the Prairie Dog Coalition and Dr. Slobodchikoff is a professor of biology at Northern Arizona University. Additionally, Dr. Slobochikoff is co-author (with Bianca Perla and Jennifer Verdolin) of the book, Prairie Dogs - Communication and Community in an Animal Society. Our time together was packed-full of information about Prairie Dogs so I hope listeners will use it as an opportunity in acting to protect these special creatures!

Click here to listen to the radio show!

Recognition

Exciting recognition for grasslands and grassland conservation here in the Rocky Mountain state! PDC contributor and nature photographer Dave Showalter wins the pictorial category at Colorado's Book Awards for his work in Prairie Thunder. Visit Dave's website.

Conata Basin, SD

The best place in the world for prairie dog and endangered black-footed ferret recovery.
Check out our featured slideshow here and learn what the PDC is doing to help!

graphic designed by Forest Guardians

The prairie dog is one of the most ecologically important residents of the Great Plains. As a keystone species, prairie dogs support the entire ecosystems of which they are part. Despite the inherent value of these extraordinary creatures, we risk losing prairie dogs to extinction, in part due to:

Sylvatic plague, a disease first brought to North America in 1900 that has now affected numerous wildlife species including prairie dogs;
Legalized decimation by poisoning, shooting and bulldozing;
Habitat destruction from conversion of grasslands to cropland or urban development.

Because prairie dogs support an entire system of life, what happens to them happens to the prairie.

The time to save prairie dogs and North American grasslands is NOW!!

Dr. Jane Goodall Joins the Prairie Dog Coalition!

Thanks to volunteer Joanne Reince, Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and U.N. Messenger of Peace, has signed on her support of the The Prairie Dog Coalition's mission. Coalition members had the honor of meeting with Dr. Goodall to discuss the plight of the prairie dog and our protection efforts. Dr. Goodall had some great ideas that we are excited to pursue! Stay tuned for this exciting advance for prairie dogs and their habitat. Welcome, Dr. Jane Goodall.

Nine different wildlife species depend on the prairie dog and their habitat for their survival. The prairie dog is a critical component to healthy North American grasslands. ~ Dr. Jane Goodall ~

Estimated Declines

Species	Historic Acreage	Current Acreage	Percent Decline
White-Tailed Prairie Dog	10 to 44 million	805,000	92
Mexican Prairie Dog	370,657	53,375	85
Utah Prairie Dog	448,000	6,977	98
Gunnison's Prairie Dog	9 to 62 million	336,000	96
Black-Tailed Prairie Dog	79 to 111 million	1.5 million	98

Black-tailed Prairie Dogs Need Endangered Species Act Protection

Instructions to sign an on-line petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/pdog123/petition.html

Listen to "Prairie Dogs Joy" by All My Relations

The Fund for Wild Nature is a supporter of the Prairie Dog Coalition.
Please check out their new web page. Click here.

Random Resource