Forest Service considers poisoning prairie dogs
Source: BillingsGazette.com
July 28, 2007
CHEYENNE - The U.S. Forest Service is considering a proposal to allow the use of poison to help control prairie dogs on the Thunder Basin National Grassland in northeast Wyoming.
The local landowner group that proposed the plan says the poisoning will lead to a more controlled and healthier ecosystem in the 572,000-acre grassland, while environmentalists berate the use of poison to control wildlife.
The Forest Service expects to have a draft environmental impact statement complete within about two weeks, according to District Ranger Bob Sprentall in Douglas.
"We're hoping to have the final out on this probably no later than the end of the year," Sprentall said Friday.
The proposal being studied was offered by the Thunder Basin Grasslands Prairie Ecosystem Association, a group of private landowners in the area.
The plan would allow for expanded use of rodenticide poison.
Currently, poison can be used to control prairie dogs only if there is a human safety issue or if the animals threaten to damage cemeteries or structures, Sprentall said.
Sprentall said current control methods, such as installing barriers and manipulating grass growth, haven't worked well in all situations.
For instance, since prairie dogs don't like tall grass, they can be prevented from colonizing areas where grass is allowed to grow high.
However, Sprentall said, "Right now, with drought conditions, it's difficult to achieve."
The plan sets aside specific areas, about 25,000 acres, that would support prairie dogs and the possible reintroduction of black-footed ferrets, which feed on prairie dogs. No poisoning would be done in the proposed ferret habitat, he said.
Betty Pellatz, chairman of the Thunder Basin Grasslands Prairie Ecosystem Association, said her group developed the plan with the goal of preserving prairie dogs, ferrets and other species within the entire grassland ecosystem. The association developed the plan in consultation with the Forest Service, the state Game and Fish Department, the federal Fish and Wildlife Service and environmental groups.
"We just want the prairie dog to be where they're supposed to be and not everywhere," Pellatz said.
The prairie dog population is currently recovering from a disease that wiped out many of the animals in 2001.
Pellatz said this is an ideal time to identify where prairie dogs should be allowed to thrive and keep them from becoming a nuisance.
She said prairie dogs will be allowed on some private lands.
"We're just trying to do something that's right for the prairie dog," she said. "We don't want to see them all gone."
However, Erik Molvar, a wildlife biologist with the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance in Laramie, said poisoning on public land doesn't make sense and is unreasonable.
"Why should we be spending taxpayer money to poison native wildlife?" Molvar said.
Poisoning prairie dogs will affect other wildlife that rely on them, he said. For instance, foxes and burrowing owls make use of prairie dog holes.
In addition, it doesn't make sense to be poisoning prairie dogs when the Forest Service is considering reintroduction of ferrets, Molvar said.
While he applauds those landowners who allow prairie dogs on their land, Molvar said ranchers have grazing leases on public land.
Prairie dogs should be managed like other wildlife, he argued.
Poisons are not used to control deer and elk, he said, "Why should the prairie dog be any different?"
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