Utah prairie dogs may get protection restored

DENVER — A lawyer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says a federal judge in Utah went too far when he struck down protections for prairie dogs found only in that state.

Attorney Anna Katselas is asking the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to overturn the decision and restore protection for the Utah prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act.

Jonathan Wood, an attorney for residents who challenged the prairie dog rules, argued Monday that the federal government has no constitutional authority to protect a species found in only one state. Activists say the lower court’s ruling could undermine the Endangered Species Act.

The arguments before the appeals court focus only on the legal merits of the lower court decision. The appeals court didn’t say when it would rule.

U.S. Department of Justice lawyers want a federal appeals court to overturn the decision striking down protections for prairie dogs found primarily in and around the southern Utah town of Cedar City.

The ruling came after residents sued with help from lawyers from the Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation. They said federal protections allowed the small, burrowing animals to take over the town’s golf course, airport and cemetery — and interrupt funerals with their barking.

In a finding that lawyers say was the first of its kind, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson decided that the Commerce Clause doesn’t allow the federal government to regulate animals found on private land in only one state.

That reasoning hadn’t gotten much traction in court before the ruling in November.

The federal government and animal rights groups contend that the ruling was a radical departure from previous court decisions, and it could weaken protections for animals all over the country because most animals listed as endangered species are only found in a single state.

On the other side, 10 states have stepped in to support the decision: Utah, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming and now Michigan.

They say states should run protection programs for rare animals instead.

After Benson’s decision was handed down in November, Utah wildlife authorities adopted a new plan that has allowed some 2,500 animals to be trapped and move out of town so far this summer, something that had previously been difficult and complicated. The plan also lets residents shoot animals that get too close to houses,

Utah prairie dog numbers dwindled to about 2,000 in the 1970s as they were targeted by ranchers and farmers who believed the animals competed with livestock and crops, according to court papers. With federal protections, they’ve rebounded to 28,000 as of this spring, according to the state tallies, and have been upgraded to threatened status.