Hidden under the snowy ground of a Longmont neighborhood open space lives a colony of prairie dogs. Their fate will soon be decided by their neighbors, the Harvest Junction Village HOA.
Anna Rivas
Amid ongoing development, prairie dogs have been pushed into some Front Range communities. Some neighbors have found them to be “pests” and are worried about the potential for the animals to carry disease.
A Monday night HOA meeting in Longmont will explore the potential extermination or other means of mitigation of a colony. But some neighbors argue the animals are vital to the ecosystem and are fighting to keep them.
Biologists estimate prairie dogs have lost 98% of their habitat to development. Prairie dogs serve as a keystone species but have little special protection under state law. According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, black-tailed prairie dogs are abundant in Colorado and are not a state or federally protected species. White-tailed and Gunnison prairie dogs are less abundant and are listed as Tier 1 species in the State Wildlife Action Plan for priority conservation consideration.
In Colorado, prairie dogs can be legally hunted with a proper license during their hunting season. While some towns have stricter rules, in general, private landowners are free to manage prairie dogs as they see fit. This can include relocating them with proper permits from Colorado Parks and Wildlife or humanely exterminating them.
Controversy is brewing over the animals in one Longmont community.
“One of the reasons that we picked this property is because it’s so close to the prairie dogs,” said Eva Garon, a Harvest Junction Village resident.
Garon and her 2-year-old son live just across the street from the colony.
“We go out, and he loves to see them, and they make us happy, and they’re cute,” Garon said.
Like many of her neighbors, she enjoys living near the prairie dogs and the ecosystem they play a key role in.
“I like to come this direction, walk along the water, walk along and look at the little critters out there,” said Lori Welch, another Harvest Junction Village resident.
“I just love seeing them. Love seeing how social they are. See how they protect each other. Chirping when people come by, they’re so sweet. It’s awesome seeing that so close by, and then they support so much other wildlife in our area,” said Jaime Fraina, a Harvest Junction Apartments resident. “We have hawks, birds of that sort, coming by. We’ve seen rabbits using their burrows, even toads potentially could be using their burrows, and in the couple of weeks in the summer, you can see a whole bunch of them out there.”
Fraina lives in the neighborhood, but not the HOA, and has been enjoying the prairie dogs for years. When he heard the Village HOA was considering exterminating the prairie dogs, he began raising money for an alternate solution.
“I’ve pitched several proposals for the HOA. Relocation I mentioned would be free for them. We can cover all the costs. We have a relocator. They would go toward Pueblo, most likely, where they would help the black-footed ferret, which is the most endangered species in North America. But also, if we want to contain them, there are better barriers we could build,” Fraina said. “We’ve even found nonprofits (Grasslands Colorado) that offered to pay rent for the prairie dogs. So the HOA may actually profit if they just leave these guys alone.”
Fraina says an online fundraiser he started is 90% of the way to its $3,000 goal, which he says is the cost of relocation.
Fraina says the HOA wasn’t open to his suggestions and called him a “trespasser.” But he maintains the land the prairie dogs live on is a public access trail.
The Harvest Junction Village HOA did not respond to CBS New Colorado’s numerous requests for comment but shared an email with homeowners shortly after the station reached out. It said in part, “A lot of misinformation has been spread by activists outside of the community, in social media at first and now broadcast news. The background of the issue is summarized below for your information: At the December 16 Working Meeting of the Board, along with homeowner input, prairie dog mitigation was identified as the leading deferred maintenance issue to address. Four board members are in favor and one did not participate in the meeting. The primary reasons for mitigation are: destruction of vegetation and encroachment into homeowners’ property could result in legal action by homeowner(s) against the Association.”
“The City was contacted about obtaining a permit and they agreed since part of the colony is on their property, coordination will be required between both of us. Four prairie dog remediation contractors have been contacted and price estimates for removal have been obtained.”
“Outside activists have inserted themselves into this issue and have been active in the neighborhood and surrounding community. The Board notified the primary activist that the Association was working with the City and since the Association is a private nonprofit the issue will be addressed within the community.”
According to the email, board member Gina Burrows is not in agreement with the statement and that the rest of the board concurred on a “no comment” policy to press inquiries. It also says the prairie dogs will be discussed in Monday’s board meeting, which many neighbors plan to attend.
“It’s just a little bit controversial. It’s a little touchy, and I’m not really sure who’s on what side,” Garons said.
The neighbors also expressed concern about a neighbor who has been asking others for their “proxy” votes.
It’s not clear if the HOA is seeking quotes for relocation or extermination of the animals.
“We’re not in favor of extermination, not at all. We don’t want them to be relocated either. But if those are two choices, I guess we would be in favor of relocation,” Garon said.
“What I would like to see the HOA do is leave them alone,” Welch said. “I grew up in a family where we protected the animals. We didn’t just arbitrarily kill things because they were inconvenient. So I want my grandsons to grow up in a community where we do respect the other wildlife and the nature that we are surrounded by.”
“Having wildlife so close by I could walk and see prairie dogs having fun outside within a few minutes of walking. I don’t want to have to drive to go somewhere for that. That’s not what Colorado is about,” Fraina said.
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