Stop Prairie dog poisoning

We need you to speak out in favor of protecting the prairie dog, which is the key strand that holds together the grassland ecosystem.

Prairie Dogs are Disappearing
Nine wildlife species are directly affected by the decline of the prairie dog population. What we do to the prairie dog affects all these other animals. Over the last 150 years, prairie dogs have declined by over 95%. Declines continue today. During the last 15 years, there has been a further 60% decrease of large prairie dog complexes. Four of the seven largest complexes have been decimated. Although prairie dogs are visible on the landscape and many small towns have increased, many more have declined or vanished. For example, last year alone, almost all of the 100,000 acres on Pine Ridge Reservation vanished, a colony larger than all Front Range colonies combined. Prairie Dogs are a Keystone Species
Prairie dogs are a key species to nine other species, such as hawks and owls, foxes and ferrets, and many others that depend on prairie dogs for food, or their burrows for shelter. If we want all these Great Plains species to survive, we need a healthy prairie dog population. Prairie dogs are like a canary in the coalmine. If their population declines and dies out, others will soon follow. The loss of prairie dogs has implications that go beyond just having a thriving prairie dog population.

Poisoning is Cruel and Inhumane
Poisoning our wildlife, including prairie dogs, is cruel and inhumane. Poison causes death by internal bleeding that can take up to 72 hours. We must stop sending the message that it is okay to poison our native wildlife and destroy our natural heritage to accommodate commercial interests. Land managers are proposing methods to kill prairie dogs that have been outlawed for use on dogs, cats, and other pets years ago.

This is about Balance
Prairie dogs exist on less than 1% of the Great Plains. Scientists say that if this downward trend continues burrowing owls, black-footed ferrets, and other wildlife will disappear too. As good stewards of the land, we need to ensure healthy populations of wildlife for our future generations.

They should NOT be Poisoning Wildlife on Our Public Lands.
Most Americans oppose using taxpayer dollars to scatter dangerous poisons across the landscape. Other animals, such as burrowing owls, rabbits, and songbirds, are likely to be killed by residual poison. Poisoning is cruel and inhumane, and requires that poisons be reapplied on a regular basis, continually adding these dangerous chemicals into our environment. Poisoning prairie dogs turns our public lands into killing fields and their own burrows into torture chambers and graveyards.
Translocate instead of Killing Prairie Dogs
Translocating prairie dogs to other sites and implementing other non-lethal alternatives provide a better alternative to using poisons.If the Forest Service feels it must remove prairie dogs to accommodate the whims of grazing permittees, this should be done using non-lethal means that allow struggling populations to be built up elsewhere.
No Prairie Dog Killing in Ferret Recovery Areas
Science has long since established that black-footed ferrets depend almost exclusively on healthy and robust prairie dog populations. Poisoning praiirie dogs in ferret recovery areas would threatens the survival of the most endangered land mammal in the western hemisphere.
Science, NOT Politics Must Guide Decisions
Decisions about protecting wildlife such as prairie dogs need to be made on the basis of sound science and research, not politics. Scientists agree that the population of prairie dogs is declining rapidly, and is now only 5% of what it was over a century ago. Scientists agree that prairie dogs are a key species on which so many others are dependent for survival. Should the prairie dog disappear, many other species will be threatened. The Forest Service must not undertake a major expansion of prairie dog poisoning just because a small but influential group of ranchers demands it; the agency has a responsibility to promote multiple use on its lands, including maintaining native wildlife.
The Area Where Prairie Dog Shooting is Banned Should be Expanded, Not Reduced
In the current land-use plan, 58,000 acres have been set aside as a “no shooting” area for prairie dogs in order to foster black-footed ferret recovery. The new plan amendment would reduce the acreage where shooting is prohibited, and craft new boundaries that would make it harder for shooters to recognize closure areas. Prairie dog shooters can blow away hundreds of prairie dogs in a single day, decimating colonies. In addition, a recent University of Wyoming study shows that the stress associated with shooting causes the prairie dogs that survive to decline in health and experience reduced pup survival. Tell the Forest Service to maintain of increase the area on the National Grassland where this wasteful practice is banned.
The Proposed Poisoning Plan is Bad for Wildlife
The current “Prairie Dog Management Plan” is a win-lose proposition: Livestock interests win, and native wildlife loses. The Forest Service needs to craft a balanced plan that balances the private interests of grazing permittees (who graze our public lands at a tiny fraction of the price of leasing private grazing land) with the public interest in maintaining and promoting the viability of rare native wildlife. In addition, tell the Forest Service that your tax money shouldn’t be used to poison native wildlife. There needs to be an alternative where prairie dog losses are completely offset by expansion elsewhere on the Grassland.

Mary H. Peterson, Forest Supervisor
Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests
Thunder Basin National Grassland
Douglas Ranger District
2250 East Richards Street
Douglas, WY 82633