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GF&P reports big jump in prairie dogs
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FarkRAPID CITY -- Prairie dogs dramatically expanded their territory in western South Dakota from 2003 to 2006, according to Jeff Vonk, secretary of the South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Department.
A GF&P survey released earlier this summer showed prairie dogs occupied 625,410 acres in 2006, up about 55 percent from 404,673 acres in 2003, Vonk told a gathering at the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association's annual convention Thursday in Rapid City.
The big increases in prairie dog acreage were mostly on tribal and federal land, Vonk said. "Increases were pretty minimal on private ground," he said.
The state has been more aggressive in helping ranchers poison prairie dogs on private ground since 2004, when the U.S. Department of Interior dropped the black-tailed prairie dog from a list of threatened species warranting protection.
Prior to 2004, the state would pay for one-time poisoning of prairie dogs encroaching on private land from nearby public land. Since then, the state has been poisoning prairie dogs every year when asked, according to George Vandel, GF&P assistant director for technical services.
Marvin Jobgen, chairman of the Stockgrowers Wildlife Committee, which hosted Vonk, has been highly critical in the past of both the state and the U.S. Forest Service for allowing prairie dogs to proliferate on federal land and then encroach onto nearby private land.
Jobgen, of Scenic, is among ranchers who have complained about prairie dog encroachment, particularly in Conata Basin south of Badlands National Park.
But on Thursday, Jobgen praised the state for its efforts to control prairie dogs coming off federal land. "I think the state has done an outstanding job on private ground," Jobgen said at the meeting.
Both the state and private ranchers are awaiting a decision from the Nebraska National Forest on how much prairie dog poisoning it will allow in the interiors of the Buffalo Gap and Fort Pierre national grasslands in South Dakota. The Forest Service already poisons prairie dogs in buffer zones between the national grasslands and private ranch land.
Area ranchers say the proliferation of prairie dogs, along with drought, has made it more difficult to survive financially. Jobgen said four Conata Basin area families have already decided to sell their ranches.
Jobgen and others at the Stockgrowers meeting Thursday urged Vonk to put more pressure on federal agencies to control prairie dogs, even in Conata Basin, where endangered black-footed ferrets have been reintroduced. Vonk said the GF&P has gone on record as opposing some federal policies, including ferret reintroduction in Wind Cave National Park. But he said the state has to find ways to work with the federal government as well as local ranchers.
Jobgen pointed out that the state had a goal of 199,000 prairie dog acres when it was part of an 11-state Prairie Dog Conservation Team. Of that, 166,958 acres were to be on non-tribal lands.
A 1997 estimate put the total number of prairie dog acres in South Dakota at 189,000 acres.
When the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service declared in 2000 that the prairie dog deserved listing as a threatened species, virtually all poisoning stopped on federal and tribal lands.
That ban, which lasted until 2004, coincided with severe drought, and both played a role in the prairie dog population explosion.
Vandel said the increase since 2004 also is likely due to drought and lack of control in the reservation areas.
The 2006 survey calculated 322,173 acres of prairie dogs on tribal lands and 303,237 acres on non-tribal lands in South Dakota. But non-tribal lands near or surrounded by tribal lands were similarly affected, Vandel said.
Aerial photography was used in both the 2003 and 2006 surveys. Observers on the ground checked the accuracy of the aerial photos.
The state prairie dog management plan, approved by the Legislature in 2005, calls for a minimum of 199,472 acres of prairie dogs. If the number falls below that, the plan would trigger changes in management.
With prairie dog acreages three times the minimum, there will be no change in state management, Vonk told the Stockgrowers.
Ranchers and several South Dakota counties are urging the Forest Service to poison prairie dogs in the interiors of the huge national grasslands in western South Dakota.
However, conservation groups say too many prairie dogs are being poisoned already and they oppose any further poisoning, saying it could jeopardize other species that depend on prairie dogs, including the black-footed ferrets.
Vonk said the state wants the Forest Service to adopt the state's prairie dog management plan regarding prairie dog control on the national grasslands. The state plan calls for a cap of about 12,000 prairie dog acres in Conata Basin. "My belief is 12,000 acres in Conata Basin is not going to be enough, in their view."
Rancher Mark Tubbs said the state plan, although it includes a cap for Conata Basin, has no cap for the remaining national grasslands. Tubbs called that a serious omission.
Vonk said officials might be reluctant to re-open the state management plan, given the amount of work that went into it. But, he said, "If there are omissions they should be fixed."
The Stockgrowers convention continues today and Saturday at the Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn.
Prairie dog acres
Counties with the highest numbers of prairie dog acres:
Shannon: 2003 - 90,736, 2006 --144,336.
Todd: 2003 - 49,884, 2006 - 76,250.
Mellette: 2003 - 37,960, 2006 - 65,578.
Dewey: 2003 - 48,342, 2006 - 58,720.
Pennington: 2003 - 34,136, 2006 - 56,455.
Corson: 2003 - 26,213, 2006 - 40,646.
To view the prairie dog survey on the Game, Fish & Parks Web site, go to: http://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/hunting/PrairieDog.htm
The South Dakota prairie dog management plan can be accessed at http://www.sdgfp.info/
Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com
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