The Issue

The Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse is a small mouse found along riparian (streamside) vegetation in the mountain foothills of southeastern Wyoming and the Front Range of Colorado. This rare mouse is listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act primarily because of habitat loss and damage from urban sprawl and agricultural practices.

Right now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is taking public comment on their proposal to designate Critical Habitat for the Preble's. Comments must be received by September 16.

Basically, Critical Habitat is the habitat or natural features essential to conserve the Preble's. The legal requirement to protect Critical Habitat only applies to federal lands (such as national forests and areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management), or to projects funded by or authorized by the federal government. In general, critical habit designation will not result in any new requirements to private land owners.

The USFWS has proposed several specific areas for critical habitat, all along streams in southeast Wyoming and northern Colorado. The USFWS proposal for Wyoming is pretty good, though it needs to be fine-tuned as described below. In addition, public support for critical habitat designation is very important right now because the State of Wyoming and regional agribusiness interests are putting up stiff anti-environmental opposition to ANY protection for the Preble's.

This alert addresses critical habitat in Wyoming only. For information on Colorado issues, contact Eric Bonds or Jeff Kessler at BCA for the names of key activists in Colorado.

Please Take Action

Right now the best way to help protect and restore the Preble's is to send a letter or email in support of Critical Habitat designation to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Here are some points to make in your letter:

• Protection of Preble's meadow jumping mouse habitat is important because it will help conserve a unique and rare element of Wyoming's natural heritage.
  
  
• The proposal for critical habitat designation in southeastern Wyoming should be strengthened by connecting proposed patches together and by increasing the length of some of the proposed units. This is particularly true for the areas in and near the Pole Mountain unit of the Medicine Bow National Forest.
  
  
• The two proposed critical habitat areas along Middle Lodgepole Creek on either side of the Albany-Laramie county boundary should be connected by designating critical habitat across the county line.
  
  
• The proposed critical habitat on the south branch of Middle Lodgepole Creek should be expanded upstream for up to 2 miles.
  
  
• The middle fork of Crow Creek should be added as critical habitat, from near Turtle Rock downstream to the Medicine Bow National Forest boundary.
  
  
• Critical Habitat designation is essential given the threats on federal land from rampant off-road vehicle abuse (particularly in the Pole Mountain are of the Medicine Bow National Forest), road construction, and water development.
  
  
• The amount of stream miles and acres of land impacted by critical habitat designation is miniscule--about 237 miles of stream and only 20,054 acres--and is the least we can do to protect the species. The benefits of keeping the Preble's alive far outweigh the modest restrictions that come with listing and critical habitat designation.

Letters must be RECEIVED by September 16th. Send them to:

Preble's Mouse Comments
Colorado Ecological Services Field Office
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
PO Box 25486
Lakewood, CO 80225-0046
fax: 303-275-2371
email: fw6_pmjm@fws.gov

For more information on Preble's from the USFWS, visit the website at http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/preble/ On that site are maps of proposed critical habitat and much more.