Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon is absolutely breath taking, there is not much more you can say to describe it you have to see it in person. The main attraction for the park is the canyon filled with "hoodoos." Walking through them you feel like you are in another world. They seem to defy physics and their red, orange and white colors are picturesque. Even though this park is absolutely beautiful we did not visit it for the the geological wonder that it is, we talked about the prairie dogs currently inhabiting part of the park.

In some records prairie dog populations at one time we said to number in billions. The inhabited the large majority of the mid-west and colonies have being recorded as large as 25,000 squaremiles. These numbers include all types of prairie dogs, the Utah Prairie Dog is the specific species we focused on. In 1920 their population was said to be about 95,000, but by 1972 only about 3,000 were estimated to exist. This is why in 1973 they were listed as an endangered species. Initial reports said they believed that the species would not make it to the year 2000, but now their population has grown to about 5,000 and the Bryce population is at about 130. New reports put a price tag of about 106 million dollars on making Utah Prairie Dogs no longer endangered (NPS.gov).

The interesting thing about Utah Prairie Dogs in that they have a symbiotic relationship with the bison in the area. High vegetation is not good for prairie dogs because it allows predators to sneak up on them. The bison keep the grass low in the prairies and the prairie dogs burrow in the soil over turning it and creating new nutrient rich grass.

Another thing we talked about in Bryce was the no surprises clause. It dealt with the reintroduction of the prairie dogs onto private property. It stated that if a private land owner allowed for the reintroduction of prairie dogs onto their property they would not be held to the standards of the Endangered Species Act. That way if they needed to build something on the land they were allowed to no questions asked. I think this is a good idea because otherwise private land owners would not allow for the prairie dog to be put on their land but the no questions asked policy should be a little more strict in my opinion.

Citations:

"Utah Prairie Dog." NPS - Bryce Canyon National Park. Web. 2011.

http://www.nps.gov/brca/naturescience/upd.htm

Picture Citations:

"Bryce Canyon." Anthony Sarnoski. 2011.

"Prairie Dog and Bison." Defenders of Wildlife. Web. 2011.

http://www.defendersblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/wm-SD-07-028.jpg