Press Release
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, September
18, 2002
Contact: Scott
Royder, TX PEER, (512) 441-4941
Jill
Haukus, Llano
Estacado Audubon Society
(806) 797-2012
STATE WILDLIFE AGENCY BLASTS PRAIRIE DOG REMOVAL
TCEQ Misled Public, Admitted
it Lacks Evidence Dogs Cause Contamination
Lubbock, TX — State regulators “admitted having no evidence”
that prairie dogs contribute to groundwater contamination, according
to a strongly-worded letter from a Texas Parks and Wildlife official
released today by Texas Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
(Texas PEER). The letter harshly criticizes a plan by the city
of Lubbock and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
to destroy one of the largest black-tailed prairie dog colonies in
the Southwest in the name of watershed protection, calling it “unacceptable.”
The
colony on the Lubbock Land Application Site has been at the center
of a statewide controversy since June, when the TCEQ (formerly Texas
Natural Resources Conservation Commission) declared that prairie dogs
were a threat to groundwater underneath the site, and ordered their
removal. TCEQ came under
early criticism from conservation groups for not backing up the contention
with any scientific evidence. The TPWD letter backs up the conservationists’
charges and requests that TCEQ “revise” its orders requiring the city
to remove the dogs.
In
an unusual public blast, the wildlife agency letter takes its sister
agency to task on a number of fronts, saying the removal plan:
·
Ignores the effects of
cattle grazing on the site in its rush to blame the prairie dogs;
·
Threatens the survival
of federally protected burrowing owls; and
·
Increases the likelihood
that prairie dogs will be added to the list of federal threatened
and endangered species.
“The
TCEQ is guilty of professional malpractice,” stated Texas PEER
Director Scott Royder. “Fortunately,
TPWD is trying to bring some sanity to this crazy situation. Their
letter has just given the City of Lubbock at least three good reasons
to leave the prairie dogs alone.”
"The TCEQ and the
City of Lubbock continue to ignore all communication and offered assistance
from the scientific community in regard to prairie dogs,” said Jill
Haukos, Conservation Chair of the Llano Estacado Audubon Society.
###
A copy of the TPWD letter and related material
available on request.
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TX PEER
· P.O. Box 1522; Austin TX ·
78767-1522
Tel: (512)
441-4941 · txpeer@PEER.org
