U.S. government under fire for poisoning of prairie dogs plan

[douglas9]

Erik Molvar, executive director of the Western Watersheds Project, one of the groups filing suit in federal court last week, said Thunder Basin is one of the last remaining landscapes with a prairie dog complex of at least 10,000 acres, the area required for efforts to bring the black-footed ferret back from the brink of extinction.

"The Forest Service shouldn't be poisoning a designated sensitive species that they are supposed to be prioritizing for conservation," Molvar asserted. "And they have a legal obligation to foster the reintroduction of black-footed ferrets, because the Thunder Basin is one of the best remaining candidate sites for black-footed ferret reintroduction."

Black-footed ferrets rely exclusively on prairie dogs for food and habitat. The legal battle is over an amendment to a plan which scraps protections and allows for poisoning and sport-shooting prairie dogs, widely viewed as pests by livestock producers.

Molvar noted the livestock industry has worked to eliminate any species it views as endangering their profits, including wolves, grizzly bears, and mountain lions. He added Thunder Basin lands are owned by all Americans, and protecting native wildlife should be the baseline for agencies charged with managing those assets.


https://www.sanantoniopost.com/news/271791578/us-government-under-fire-for-poisoning-of-prairie-dogs-plan