U.S. to Poison Prairie Dogs in South Dakota; Agrees to Environmental Study

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luckypig

[luckypig]

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

4:51 PM

@ A2C

Fw: U.S. to Poison

Prairie Dogs in South Dakota; Agrees to Environmental Study

 

 

 

 

U.S.

to Poison Prairie Dogs in South Dakota

Tue Oct 19, 2004 09:19 PM ET

<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews & storyID=6548495 & src=eDialog/javascript:commonPopup('newsGalaxyPhotoPresentation.jhtml?type=scienceNews & storyID=6548495 & index=0',

 

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DENVER (Reuters) - Wildlife workers

have begun a program to poison

thousands of prairie dogs in the grasslands of South

Dakota to stop them

from moving onto private ranch land parched by drought, a federal official

said on Tuesday.

 

But in an agreement to settle a lawsuit filed by eight conservation

organizations last month, the U.S. Forest Service will spread poison on

fewer acres than originally planned and conduct an environmental study to

figure out a long-term solution, according to Don Bright, forest supervisor

for the Buffalo Gap National Grassland in southwestern South

Dakota.

 

" We need to be good neighbors and we do not want a landowner to go out of

business, " Bright said, referring to ranchers who said prairie dogs were

eating the little grass left in the fifth year of drought.

 

Parts of the area have been hard hit by drought and had less than two

inches (5 cm) of rain in the past 15 months.

 

The groups had sued in federal court in Denver,

saying the prairie dogs

should not be shot on federal land especially because their habitat is home

to the endangered black-footed ferret whose diet consists mainly of prairie

dogs.

 

Bright also said planned rifle hunting of prairie dogs -- which is

basically target shooting -- will be banned this year in an area where

there are about 200 ferrets.

 

Jonathan Proctor, Northern Plains program director for Predator

Conservation Alliance, called the settlement a mixed bag.

 

" We hate that wildlife will be killed and ferret habitat destroyed on our

public land, but the settlement will save more wildlife and habitat in the

long run, " he said.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews & storyID=6548495 & src=eDialog/GetContent & section=news