Resources for Agencies and Decision Makers
Local governments frequently have the primary authority over land use decisions, including powers to protect wildlife habitat. Thank you for making the efforts to learn more about coexistence, place value on wildlife, and help protect range wide biodiversity!
Let’s move forward together! Your first stop is creating or re-visting your prairie dog conservation plan.
Creating Prairie Dog Management Plans
Creating a management plan takes patience and persistence. It is a collaborative effort involving many stakeholders, some of whom may have a history of conflict. These guides aim to provide a framework within which diverse stakeholders can find strategies suiting the needs of their communities to improve outcomes for the prairie dog ecosystem.
Part 1: Overview of Prairie Dog Ecology & Conservation
Part 1 provides an overview of prairie dog ecology, discusses the importance of prairie dog conservation, explains why prairie dogs have declined, and clarifies the roles of federal, state, and local governments in prairie dog management.
Part 2: Developing a Plan For Your Community
Part 2 describes the basic elements of a prairie dog management plan and provides direction for policy documents that can be customized to the needs of your community.
Appendices: Digging Deeper
The appendices have more in-depth information on:
Non-lethal management
Consequences of lethal control
Mitigation for habitat destruction
State agency designations of prairie dogs
Model habitat monitoring sheets
The development review process
Reverse Dispersal Translocation
Barrier design and installation
What is Coexistence?
Coexistence is helping people share the landscape with wildlife and using innovative tools to reduce the conflicts that often occur with animals in their natural habitats. (Defenders of Wildlife)
Let’s Open Up the Toolbox
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Vegetation Strategies
As grazing herbivores, vegetation can have a huge impact on prairie dog behavior, including the behaviors that may be sparking conflict. Taking inventory of what types of vegetation you have can open you up to vegetation strategies that may mitigate conflict with prairie dogs.
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Barriers and Buffer Zones
The use of barriers for non-lethal control of prairie dogs has been at the forefront of best management practices for at least two decades. By constructing a man-made or vegetative barrier, you may effectively mitigate the spread of prairie dogs outside of designated areas.
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Colony Analysis
Digging into the natural history and human history of the site in question can be very helpful in tracking a roadmap for its future. Colony dynamics and population ecology can provide valuable insight to which coexistence strategies are most appropriate.
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Community Engagement
In 2022, we published an information brochure about prairie dog biology for public engagement. Click the button below to view and download the digital version. Looking for physical copies for your visitor center, trailhead, or next event? We would be happy to ship you a box, free of charge.
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Passive Relocation
Passive relocation is habitat-based strategy that manipulates the prairie dog burrow system, causing them to leave conflict burrows on their own. With this method, prairie dogs are not handled; instead they must acclimate themselves into territories with pre-existing burrows.
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Active Translocation
Active translocation is a multi-step process involving the manual removal, transport, and release of prairie dogs. Proper site evaluation and acclimation monitoring are also essential to its success. When performed strategically, this can be a great tool for both conflict reduction and ecosystem restoration.
The picture is bigger than prairie dogs
By prioritizing prairie dog coexistence, you are supporting an entire shortgrass ecosystem that has already lost 46% of its historic area (Comer et al. 2018).
Want to Get Hands On?
Planting for Prairie Dogs
Try Prairie Dog Resistant, Resilient, and Barrier Plant Species
Struggling to maintain barriers and vegetation on your property with prairie dogs? They may be more predictable than you might think. We are compiling a growing list of plants that can serve as barriers, buffers, and ground cover for living alongside prairie dogs.