There is an urgent need for thoughtful, proactive planning regarding prairie dogs in Santa Fe given the swift pace at which prairie dogs are disappearing from the city. We request the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico to review and adopt the conservation plan dated February 2, 2006. This plan begins where the city ordinance of 2001 ends.
The plan promotes the conservation of prairie dogs and the prairie dog ecosystem within the city and its outlying areas.
Santa Fe has the opportunity to again be in the vanguard, within the range of the Gunnisons, by adopting a city-wide approach that includes the creation of a preserve network to accommodate relocated prairie dogs as well as protecting some colonies where they currently exist in the city.