{"id":1310,"date":"2020-12-07T07:56:10","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T07:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=134154"},"modified":"2020-12-07T07:56:10","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T07:56:10","slug":"massacre-in-thunder-basin-forest-service-seeks-license-to-kill-prairie-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/07\/massacre-in-thunder-basin-forest-service-seeks-license-to-kill-prairie-dogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Massacre in Thunder Basin: Forest Service Seeks License to Kill Prairie Dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"
Years ago, I went out of my way to visit the Thunder Basin National Grassland. With a name like \u201cThunder Basin,\u201d how could I resist.<\/p>\n
The Thunder Basin National Grassland is located in northeastern Wyoming in the Powder River Basin between the Big Horn Mountains and the Black Hills. Short-grass plains dominate it.<\/p>\n
The Medicine Bow National Forest released its Record of Decision for the 2020 Thunder Basin National Grassland Plan Amendment.<\/em><\/p>\n The purpose of the amendment is to make it easier to kill prairie dogs on the Thunder Basin National Grassland. Of course, the Forest Service (FS) does not explicitly say that, but that is the document\u2019s result.<\/p>\n The black-tailed prairie is considered a \u201csensitive species\u201d by the Forest Service. But they seemingly sacrifice the animals to protect livestock interests using our public lands.<\/p>\n Indeed, in making its decision to reduce the acreage of protected prairie dog towns on the Thunder Basin National Grasslands, the Forest Service specifically said one of its reasons for prairie dog control was to preserve the culture of local communities that have traditionally relied on livestock grazing.<\/p>\n It\u2019s preferred alternative would reduce the area on the Thunder Basin National Grasslands where prairie dogs are protected from poisoning programs from 33,000 acres to 10,000 acres with the caveat that the occupied territory could be reduced to 7,500 acres during drought conditions before prohibitions against poisoning are enforced.<\/p>\n Besides, there will be \u00bc-mile boundary management zones around private and state land within which control of prairie dogs will be prioritized to reduce impacts to surrounding landowners. In specific circumstances, management zones may be expanded to \u00be mile. Priority for control will also be given within 1 mile of residences and where prairie dogs are causing damage to private or public facilities.<\/p>\n The FS explicitly says that the purpose of this amendment is to maintain \u201cthe history and culture of local communities that have traditionally relied on livestock grazing for economic vitality.\u201d Of course, part of the local \u201ccustom and culture\u201d is killing prairie dogs, so I guess the agency recognizes this and wants to accommodate parochial \u201ctraditions.\u201d<\/p>\n The Forest Service relied on a local collaborative to come up with suggestions about prairie dog management. Like most collaboratives, the collaborative was dominated by local people like county commissioners, ranchers, and others who generally oppose prairie dog expansion, much less survival.<\/p>\n Not surprisingly, the amendment, the agency says: \u201cis intended to help balance resource use when drought reduces forage available for livestock. They assert \u201cthat 7,500-acre drought objective will remove some competition for forage by prairie dogs during this time.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, there is going to be a lot of killing and not much habitat available to prairie dogs.<\/p>\n The amendment was prompted by the expansion of prairie dog colonies between 2015 and 2017.<\/p>\n The favorite means of \u201ccontrol\u201d is Zinc phosphide. The chemical is mixed with a grain like oats and spread liberally across a prairie dog town. When consumed, zinc phosphide is converted to phosphine gas in the animal\u2019s stomach. Vomiting, often hemorrhagic, is a common presenting sign in animals capable of vomiting. Tachypnea, ataxia, weakness, trembling, collapse, seizures, and death usually ensues, and any prairie dog unfortunate enough to consume the poison will die a horrific demise.<\/p>\n The management of prairie dogs on public lands is another example of how public agencies fail to protect the greater public interest and generally respond to local industry interests\u2014in this case, the livestock industry.<\/p>\n The irony is several studies have demonstrated that livestock prefer to graze on prairie dog towns<\/a>, as do bison.<\/p>\n