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Thunder Basin bans shooting prairie dogs.
Associated Press
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Forest Supervisor Mary Peterson has signed an order prohibiting the shooting of prairie dogs on part of the Thunder Basin National Grassland.
The yearlong order is designed to protect prairie dogs and prairie dog colonies, which are critical to the reintroduction of the black-footed ferret, she said.
The basin is a proposed reintroduction site for the black-footed ferret. The ferret is considered the most endangered mammal in North America.
Peterson, supervisor of the grassland and Medicine Bow-Routt national forests, signed the order Friday.
"The Endangered Species Act requires that the Forest Service conserve ecosystems that endangered and threatened species depend on. Given that the black-footed ferret is this continent's most endangered mammalian species, this restriction is both reasonable and appropriate," she said.
Peterson said she considered the order's effect on people who shoot prairie dogs as recreation but she can see no other way to protect the population of prairie dogs.
"Recreational shooting will undoubtedly continue on adjacent private and state lands in the area," she said.
The prohibition covers 72,500 acres in the southwestern and south-central portions of Wyoming's 560,000-acre grassland.
The ban is expected to boost prairie dog populations that were decimated by plague last year in the proposed areas for black-footed ferret reintroduction.
Ten Western states, including Wyoming, are developing black-tailed prairie dog management plans to avoid the species being listed as threatened.
About 200 black-footed ferrets exist in the wild in seven Western recovery areas. The ferret mainly eats prairie dogs and dwells in prairie dog towns.
The order does not interfere with Wyoming game hunting seasons, forest officials said.
The ban follows a temporary ban that was put in place for four months.
Associated Press
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Forest Supervisor Mary Peterson has signed an order prohibiting the shooting of prairie dogs on part of the Thunder Basin National Grassland.
The yearlong order is designed to protect prairie dogs and prairie dog colonies, which are critical to the reintroduction of the black-footed ferret, she said.
The basin is a proposed reintroduction site for the black-footed ferret. The ferret is considered the most endangered mammal in North America.
Peterson, supervisor of the grassland and Medicine Bow-Routt national forests, signed the order Friday.
"The Endangered Species Act requires that the Forest Service conserve ecosystems that endangered and threatened species depend on. Given that the black-footed ferret is this continent's most endangered mammalian species, this restriction is both reasonable and appropriate," she said.
Peterson said she considered the order's effect on people who shoot prairie dogs as recreation but she can see no other way to protect the population of prairie dogs.
"Recreational shooting will undoubtedly continue on adjacent private and state lands in the area," she said.
The prohibition covers 72,500 acres in the southwestern and south-central portions of Wyoming's 560,000-acre grassland.
The ban is expected to boost prairie dog populations that were decimated by plague last year in the proposed areas for black-footed ferret reintroduction.
Ten Western states, including Wyoming, are developing black-tailed prairie dog management plans to avoid the species being listed as threatened.
About 200 black-footed ferrets exist in the wild in seven Western recovery areas. The ferret mainly eats prairie dogs and dwells in prairie dog towns.
The order does not interfere with Wyoming game hunting seasons, forest officials said.
The ban follows a temporary ban that was put in place for four months.
