[Denveraudubon] Fw: Petition to halt the shooting of prairie dogs as targets

[Polly P. Reetz]

This came today from Audubon Colorado - I hope you will sign the petition.
Polly Reetz

---------- Forwarded Message ----------
TO: Audubon members and other interested conservationists
FROM: Audubon Colorado
RE: Petition to halt the shooting of prairie dogs and other live animals as targets
On Thursday May 1, the Colorado Wildlife Commission will consider a citizens' petition to ban the shooting of live animals simply as targets. This particularly pertains to the current practice of shooting prairie dogs as targets, with no intent to otherwise use the animals that are killed for food or other useful purposes. The petition was submitted by Forest Guardians (Wild Earth Guardians). Audubon Colorado submitted a letter in support of the petition because of our concerns about the potential impacts of indiscriminate shooting of prairie dogs on various bird populations, including Burrowing Owls, Mountain Plovers, and various raptor species.
If you would like to voice your opinion in support of the petition, you may do so by signing an on-line petition at the following link, where you can make your input most effective by adding your own comments emphasizing the biological impacts on bird populations (see info in the letter quoted at the end of this email):
<http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/colorado-petition-to-ban-prairie-dog-shooting>
If you live in the Grand Junction area, you may also consider attending the Wildlife Commission meeting on May 1, which will take place at the Holiday Inn at 755 Horizon Drive, Grand Junction. The petition (Item # 10) is scheduled to come up at 11:00 am, but it could be considered earlier or later, depending upon the speed of the Commission's work on the day's agenda. Following are links to the Agenda and Rule-Making Notice for the meeting:
<http://wildlife.state.co.us/NR/rdonlyres/CBC15C68-009A-4CE6-9DCB-B8834F9ED874/0/mailversionMay08WCAgenda.pdf>
<http://wildlife.state.co.us/NR/rdonlyres/3D35C76F-CF41-426B-B2B6-FA8B2B9C48C9/0/RuleMakingNotice.pdf>
If you go to the following link for the Commission Meeting info, at the bottom of the page, you will find a series of links to data and analysis by DOW staff relevant to this issue:
<http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeCommission/Archives/2008/May12008.htm>
Following is a link to the original petition from Forest Guardians (Wild Earth Guardians) [very long]:
<http://wildlife.state.co.us/NR/rdonlyres/A1DEB481-3E53-4EDA-AAE7-6ED7A1870825/0/CitizenPetitionNoLiveTargets.pdf>
And following is the relevant portion of the letter that Audubon Colorado submitted to the Wildlife Commission in support of the petition:
"Because of Audubon's interest in the conservation of Colorado's native bird life, we are particularly concerned about the impacts and potential impacts of this kind of recreational shooting on populations of birds that are linked to prairie dog colonies, including Burrowing Owls, Mountain Plovers and various raptor species.
Burrowing owls may be harmed by prairie dog shooting in several ways. Burrowing owls may be shot inadvertently or intentionally, as they are small-statured and often stand at the mouths of prairie dog burrows. In addition, the owls are dependent on prairie dog towns that are in active use. If the towns are abandoned by the prairie dogs and thus maintenance of the burrows ceases, then the owls will eventually have to abandon the area, too, because the burrows may collapse within 1-2 years. Therefore, if shooting results in prairie dog extirpation or in significant declines of prairie dog numbers at a colony, burrowing owls will eventually have fewer or no burrows in which to nest at that site. Finally, burrowing owls can be harmed by lead poisoning if they ingest any parts of prairie dog carcasses contaminated with lead ammunition.
In a similar way, the mountain plover (which has previously been proposed for federal Endangered Species Act protection) depends on prairie dogs for some of its breeding habitat and may be incidentally or intentionally killed by prairie dog shooters.
Other bird species that can be harmed by ingestion of prairie dogs contaminated by lead ammunition include golden eagles and ferruginous hawks, for which prairie dogs provide a significant prey source. According to recent research published in the Journal of Wildlife Management, "We found that 47% of prairie dogs shot with expanding bullets contained >180 mg of elemental lead, enough to be acutely lethal to nestling raptors and...an amount potentially sufficient to be acutely lethal to adult raptors as well." (Pauli, J.N. and S.W. Buskirk. 2007. Recreational shooting of prairie dogs: a portal for lead entering wildlife food chains. Journal of Wildlife Management 71[1]:103-108)."
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