- Colorado earned a B, Utah a C-plus, and New Mexico a D for their treatment of prairie dogs in 2015.
- Utah legislator Ken Ivory, who sparked controversy as director of the American Lands Council, is leaving that post to lead a “Free the Lands” campaign.
Colorado earned a B, Utah a C-plus, and New Mexico a D for their treatment of prairie dogs in 2015. On Groundhog Day, the environmental group WildEarth Guardians released its ninth annual “Report from the Burrow,” in which it grades federal agencies and states regarding their management of what it calls “intelligent, ecologically important animals.” The group says prairie dogs provide habitat and food for numerous other species including endangered black-footed ferrets, badgers, bobcats, burrowing owls and large herbivores.
Utah legislator Ken Ivory, who sparked controversy as director of the American Lands Council, is leaving that post to lead a “Free the Lands” campaign for a South Carolina-based group. Ivory started the American Lands Council in 2012 to advocate for a transfer of federal public lands to states. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that in 2014 he was paid $135,000 and his wife $18,000, nearly half what the group raised. Most of the council’s money comes from dues from rural Western counties, including Montezuma and Montrose in Colorado. The Tribune says Montana state Senator Jennifer Fielder will replace Ivory as the ALC’s director. Fielder came to Cortez in May 2015 to speak to the local chapter of the 9-12 Project.
