A decision on whether to poison more prairie dogs on the Buffalo Gap and Fort Pierre national grasslands, including a reintroduction area for endangered black-footed ferrets, has been delayed, probably until at least Jan. 1, 2008.
The Nebraska National Forest, which administers the federally owned grasslands in South Dakota and the Oglala National Grassland in Nebraska, issued draft plans in June that would allow varying levels of poisoning and other methods of controlling prairie dogs on the grasslands, including Conata Basin. Conata Basin, south of Badlands National Park, is home to the most successful black-footed ferret reintroduction area in the nation.
Nebraska National Forest supervisor Don Bright of Chadron said last summer he expected to decide by October which plan would be used to manage prairie dogs in the grasslands interiors.
But Bright now says he probably won't decide until Jan. 1 or later.
The delay is being caused mainly by the time it takes to write responses to the large number of public comments on the plan, he said.
The written responses have reached 50-60 pages in length, Bright said last week. Bright said last summer the Forest Service received more than 68,000 letters on the issue from all over the United States and other countries.
"We take them all into account," he said.
"When a question comes in, we have to respond to all those comments. That is taking a tremendously much longer time," he said last week.
Bright said a visit to the area in late September by undersecretary of agriculture Mark Rey, who oversees the U.S. Forest Service, had nothing to do with the delay.
Bright said he did not meet with Rey during the visit.
Rey did meet with South Dakota Stockgrowers Association officials, who told him their concerns about the burgeoning prairie dog population on the national grasslands, according to Stockgrowers executive director Margaret Nachtigall.
Nachtigall said, although the state prairie-dog-management plan's minimum goal for prairie dogs in South Dakota is set at about 200,000, a 2006 state survey put the total in the state at more than 625,000 acres. State wildlife officials said that total was up about 55 percent from 404,673 acres occupied by prairie dogs in 2003.
The Stockgrowers Association, other grazing groups, individual ranchers and several western South Dakota counties are urging the Forest Service to poison prairie dogs in the interiors of the national grasslands to halt their proliferation and to maintain adequate conditions for the natural resources, including vegetation and soil.
However, conservation groups say too many prairie dogs are being poisoned already, and they oppose further poisoning, saying it could jeopardize other species that depend on prairie dogs, including the endangered black-footed ferrets.
The state began poisoning prairie dogs on private land adjacent to public lands in late 2004. The Forest Service began poisoning prairie dogs in buffer zones on the grasslands in 2005.
Bright said the alternatives in the draft amendment are being weighed for their impact on the desired number of prairie dog acres, the desired vegetation cover on the grasslands and habitat for black-footed ferrets.
"This is not about wholesale poisoning," Bright said last summer.
Bright said nonlethal means also are being used, including fencing off buffer zones to discourage prairie dog encroachment onto private land.
Bright said he could choose any of the alternatives or a combination of the alternatives.
The amendment alternatives being considered are:
* (1) Management that emphasizes multiple uses, except in Conata Basin, where the priority is on ferrets and their need for prairie dogs. This alternative also provides objectives for maximum and minimum acres of prairie dog colonies.
* (2) No change. This alternative would continue the current Forest Service plan, which does allow poisoning of prairie dogs in buffer zones to prevent their encroachment onto nearby private land.
* (3) Setting maximum prairie dog acreages of 3 percent of the total acres of national grassland in each county. The minimum prairie dog acreages would be adjusted to ensure at least fair range conditions on the grasslands. The Stockgrowers Association and the counties favor Alternative 3.
* (4) Management in line with the state of South Dakota's prairie dog management plan. The plan sets a range of 8,000 to 12,000 prairie dog acres in Conata Basin, but no specific objectives for the remainder of the grasslands.
* (5) Emphasis on larger numbers of prairie dogs in all areas of the Buffalo Gap, Fort Pierre and Oglala (Nebraska) national grasslands.
Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com
On the Web
To view the draft environmental impact statement and alternatives for prairie dog management, go to www.fs.fed.us/r2/nebraska/projects/ea_and_eis/pdog/deis/index.shtml
To view the 2006 prairie dog survey by the Game, Fish & Parks Department, go to www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/hunting/PrairieDog.htm
To see the South Dakota prairie dog management plan, go to www.sdgfp.info/
