It fears the prairie dog is disappearing, and it wants it protected under the Endangered Species Act.

ECONOMIST: An endangered nuisance

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, only seven major (bigger than 10, 000 acres) black-tailed prairie dog towns remain.

ECONOMIST: An endangered nuisance

Many a western teenager has learned about marksmanship by plinking away in a prairie dog town, the hummocky meadows where the creatures live and play.

ECONOMIST: An endangered nuisance

It's its main food source, the prairie dog, that's the problem.

NPR: Drilling to Begin in Colorado Ferret Habitat

Hawks, foxes and other animals need them as food, says Lindsey Sterling Crank, executive director of the Humane Society of the United States' Prairie Dog Coalition.

WSJ: In Utah, a Town Digs Deep to Battle Prairie Dogs

The Utah prairie dog population numbers only about 40, 000, far lower than historic levels, says Laura Romin, a Fish and Wildlife official in Salt Lake City.

WSJ: In Utah, a Town Digs Deep to Battle Prairie Dogs

Federal biologists say the cinnamon-colored Utah prairie dog standing up to 16 inches and weighing up to three pounds is the westernmost prairie dog in the country and geographically isolated from others.

WSJ: In Utah, a Town Digs Deep to Battle Prairie Dogs

Only one state, South Dakota, remains plague-free, and it contains about a third of the remaining black-tailed prairie-dog population.

ECONOMIST: An endangered nuisance

"I have had it with them, " says Paragonah Mayor Connie Robinson, who has a prairie-dog doll with a target on it on the dashboard of her Chevrolet Trailblazer.

WSJ: In Utah, a Town Digs Deep to Battle Prairie Dogs