Colorado Prairie Dog Squad

Citizen science has been proven to be resoundingly successful in expanding scientific knowledge in several conservation projects including management recommendations, landscape ecology and population trends in wildlife (Cooper et al., 2007; Dickinson et al., 2012). With often extremely limited funding, conservation efforts can be greatly benefited by involving the public in data collection, which expands biologists’ access to study areas and sample sizes (Cooper et al., 2007; Dickinson et al., 2012).  Modern web capabilities, such as iNaturalist, and incredible volunteers such as yourselves make it possible to collect a vast amount of quality-controlled data, without exhausting temporal and monetary resources that are often so scarce in wildlife conservation (Dickinson et al., 2012).

 

By joining the Colorado Prairie Dog Squad, you will not only help collect vital prairie dog habitat data for biologists, but you will also be raising people's awareness about prairie dogs. The more prairie dog towns get mapped out, the more aware people will become about this incredible species. A Denver study even discovered that as people's proximity to prairie dogs increases, so does their positive feelings towards prairie dogs (Morse et al., 2012). If we can shift our neighbors' overall perceptions of prairie dogs even slightly towards a more positive outlook, this could lower the direct persecution they face from poisoning and recreational hunting. It might even establish prairie dogs as a vital piece in local people's sense of place and culture, and therefore increase grassroots support for the protection of prairie dog towns from removal or development for future generations.