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BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK — The National Park Service is seeking input from Utah residents as it sets about the development of a Utah Prairie Dog Stewardship Plan.
Once it is completed, the plan will be used to help best manage the burrowing animal, its habitat and operations specifically within Bryce National Park.
Earlier this year, the federal government declined to extend protections to the animal under the Endangered Species Act, a decision lauded by state officials but criticized by ecologists who say the animal is a "keystone" species that plays a prime role in fostering a healthy Western habitat.
Utah has pushed hard to implement its own conservation measures, spending $1.9 million to help preserve the wild areas where it lives and control outbreaks of disease.
While 6,000 Utah prairie dogs can be taken under current law, environmentalists say systematic destruction of habitat, disease, and predation have reduced adult numbers from 95,000 in the early 1920s to 12,000 adults today.
A pilot program led by Iron County began in 2010 and involves the six county area where the species lives in Utah.
Comments on the stewardship plan to be implemented in Bryce National Park are being accepted through Oct. 11.
Comments are being accepted electronically at http://parkplanning.nps.gov, or u>[brca\_information@nps.gov](https://mce_host/newsroom/article/brca_information@nps.gov)</u, or can also be sent to Bryce Canyon National Park, P.O. Box 640201, Bryce, Utah 84764.
Once these comments are reviewed, there will be a second opportunity to provide input after the actual stewardship plan is made available.
Email:aodonoghue@ksl.com
