The species is currently listed as threatened by the state of Washington. In December 2012, a proposal was made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the gopher as threatened. It would apply to the four local subspecies of the Mazama pocket gopher and their prairie habitat. Their prairie habitat in which the gophers live has been reduced by 90-95% in the last 150 years. A translocation project has been undertaken, but a mortality of 90% has been reported.