Ferret recovery still a fight

| Sunday, February 27, 2005

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Plague-free South Dakota sites most successful in the nation

By Steve Miller, Journal Staff Writer

RAPID CITY — Black-footed ferrets have made an amazing comeback, especially in South Dakota, since the last 18 ferrets in existence were snatched from the brink of extinction nearly 20 years ago near Meeteetse, Wyo.

But recovery of the endangered ferrets still faces an uphill battle nationwide, according to Mike Lockhart, coordinator of the Black-Footed Ferret Recovery program for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Lockhart outlined the history of the ferret recovery program to about 75 people attending a Saturday workshop on managing black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs in Conata Basin south of Badlands National Park.

Nearly 500 black-footed ferrets live in the wild now, the majority of them at three sites in South Dakota, including Conata Basin, the most successful reintroduction site in the country.

But ferret recovery is by no means assured, Lockhart and other scientists said at the workshop.

Lockhart said that the question of the recovery's feasibility has a two-part answer. "Yes, technically, we think it's certainly feasible, and we think it's worthwhile to pursue continued recovery efforts."

But, he added, if current conditions don't change, long-term ferret recovery is not feasible.

In an interview, Lockhart explained that simply getting the ferret off the federal endangered species list will require at least 10 separate sites with self- sustaining populations and at least 1,500 animals.

"Conditions don't exist even for downlisting," Lockhart said.

Today, he said there is definitely one self-sustaining site, Conata Basin, and possibly a second on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. A third reintroduction site, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, also looks promising, Lockhart said. The 2004 ferret population survey listed 206 ferrets at Conata Basin, 67 on Cheyenne River and 33 at Rosebud.

Another site, Shirley Basin in Wyoming, had 96 ferrets, a surprising comeback after sylvatic plague damaged the ferret and prairie dog populations there in the 1990s.

Reintroduction sites in Montana and elsewhere have not been as successful, in part because of plague, according to Randy Matchett of the USF&WS in Montana. Plague hasn't hit the South Dakota sites.

Matchett said scientists are testing a vaccine to protect ferrets and prairie dogs against plague. But he said that, because of huge costs, even a successful vaccine would be merely a "finger in the dike."

Another speaker, David McDonald of the University of Wyoming, said mathematical analysis shows that black-footed ferrets can proliferate quickly but are vulnerable to external conditions and can "blink out" just as quickly.

Lockhart and Matchett said the key to ferret recovery is developing more large prairie dog complexes encompassing several thousand acres each. Ferrets depend on prairie dogs as their sole source of food.

And that's the rub in western South Dakota. Ranchers in Conata Basin and elsewhere in southwest South Dakota say proliferating prairie dogs have destroyed the grass on the national grasslands where they have livestock grazing permits and have encroached onto their private land, as well.

Lockhart said he believes black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs can co-exist in normal conditions with livestock grazing and other uses of public land.

But, he said, in special circumstances such as drought, ferrets and prairie dogs must have first priority within the reintroduction areas.

He said those sites must have "hard boundaries." Inside the boundaries, ferrets and prairie dogs should come first. Outside the boundaries, landowners must be protected from the impact of prairie dogs, he said.

He acknowledged that the emphasis on ferrets definitely affects grazers in the reintroduction areas. But, he said, from a national perspective, those sites are "infinitesimally small."

Meanwhile, Lockhart said the "recovery community" needs to do a better job of minimizing the damage done by prairie dogs to adjoining private land.

"If there are landowners who don't want prairie dogs on their land, they shouldn't be there."

Lockhart suggested that the situation in Conata Basin could have been handled better. Conata Basin is within the Buffalo Gap National Grassland, which is managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

State and federal land and wildlife managers are trying to work out compromises to protect the prairie dogs and ferrets as well as the ranchers feeling the economic pinch, especially in Conata Basin and elsewhere in southwestern South Dakota. They have been attacked by wildlife groups who say they aren't doing enough to protect wildlife and by ranchers who say they aren't doing enough to protect the grazing interests.

That split was reflected at Saturday's conference. Many of those in attendance represented private conservation and wildlife groups, but there was also a handful of ranchers.

Charles Kruse, who ranches in Conata Basin, argued that state law requires that landowners be compensated for damage by prairie dogs. He said he has had to sell off one-third of his cattle herd because the grassland has been denuded of vegetation. A neighbor had to sell his whole herd, Kruse said.

State Agriculture Secretary Larry Gabriel and George Vandel, chief biologist with the South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Department, spoke in defense of the state's prairie dog management plan, which is working its way through the South Dakota Legislature.

Jonathan Proctor of the Predator Conservation Alliance complained that the state plan since last May had been stripped of provisions for public education about prairie dogs and their importance to other species. He also said a proposed half-mile buffer zone on federal land next to private land was increased to one mile.

Tom France of the National Wildlife Federation also criticized the one-mile buffer zone.

Vandel and Gabriel said those changes resulted from compromises needed to get the plan through the Legislature.

Gabriel also said the state plan was modified after Gov. Mike Rounds saw the devastation in Conata Basin on a tour last summer. After that, Gabriel said, "the governor started to drive the issue."

The state plan, known as HB1252, has passed the state House and appears headed for approval by the Senate.

Bill Perry, Wall District Ranger, said Forest Service officials will incorporate the state plan, after it is signed by the governor, into the grassland management plan.

Perry said he expected a draft of the proposed amendment to be ready in a couple of weeks.

The workshop concludes today at Best Western Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center.

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com