Homes on the Range Threaten Antelope

The antelope used to have free reign over the grassland surrounding this central Arizona town, but progress has turned Prescott Valley from a sparsely populated rural community to a bustling boomtown in just 15 years.

The antelope still play here, but they struggle to coexist with the businesses and homes that crisscross their once-open land.

And the discouraging words can be heard not from city officials but from wildlife experts.

“I don’t see how the urban herds can survive. I hate to write off those urban herds, but it’s just a matter of time,” said Harley Shaw, a retired biologist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Two herds have been trapped by the rapidly expanding development of Prescott and Prescott Valley--a problem officials say is bound to keep repeating itself as humans and grazing animals compete for prime grassland.

Officials tried to drive one herd out last year, using fences and nearly 300 volunteers. The antelope were pushed out of a grassy pocket but returned in a matter of months. Now they appear doomed.

The dozen antelope nibble on the brownish desert grass surrounded by three schools, a police station and housing developments.

To get water, the antelope rely on retention areas along roads or feast on the police station’s lush green grass.

Michael Senn, a field supervisor for the Arizona Game and Fish Department, said the small herd is almost certainly destined to disappear. Some may leave the confined area and find a new herd, he said, while the others will just die.

But Senn said state officials are learning important lessons from the doomed herd--ones they hope to use when this happens again.

“Unless the city and the county find a better way for [animals to get in and out], we’re going to see this again and again,” Senn said.

The area in and around Prescott Valley is some of the best antelope-grazing land in the state. But much of it is slated for development as families and retirees flock to the natural landscape.

“They buy it because they love the wildlife but the first thing they do is put a fence up, and the wildlife stays away,” Senn said.

More fences are expected.

The area around Prescott and Prescott Valley is expected to have more than 205,000 residents by 2015. Currently, the area has about 77,000 residents.

Del Webb plans to put up about 10,000 homes in the open grassland just south of Prescott Valley.

Harvey Skoog, the mayor of Prescott Valley, said the town is excited about the new development, but he acknowledged that the animals are likely to be squeezed out.

The rapid development isn’t good for the animals, but Skoog said the town does not intend to stop the growth.

“It would be very unfair to tell [property owners] they can’t build on it and that they should just keep paying taxes,” Skoog said.

Larry Tarkowski, the town’s director of public works, said Prescott Valley and Prescott are making an effort to preserve some antelope land.

They hope to get 2,000 acres in an area between the two cities turned into a preserve.

But Senn said that is unlikely to help the antelope much; few live on the hills, and it is hardly the best grazing land in the area.

Some of the land that is being built upon is good for grazing, he said. “Lost habitat means lost animals. That’s just the way it is.”