Threatened species of Spermophilus washingtoni

The Washington ground squirrel has had a rough time adjusting to the changing landscape. Conversion of wild sage and grassland for irrigated crops and poplar farms has taken its toll. The squirrel's decline reflects Oregon's shrinking native sage and grasslands.

The Washington ground squirrel is listed under the Oregon Endangered Species Act. The law, enacted in 1987, applies only to Oregon native species, and its regulations extend only to state-owned or state-leased lands.

Field surveys conducted in the late 1980s and the late 1990s, estimate that the number of squirrel colonies has dropped by 69 percent during that period. In February 1999, the Fish and Wildlife Commission was asked to declare an emergency listing for the squirrel. That request generated a flurry of letters from Eastern Oregon legislators, who threatened to cut funding for the state Endangered Species Act if the emergency listing were granted, due to a corporate farming project in Eastern Oregon. The land proposed for development, with its sandy soil, appears to be the squirrel's preferred habitat. Listing the squirrel could derail the development plans. The commission denied the request but ordered biologists to assess the squirrels' status and report back.