Gov. Mike Rounds decided to delay a move to end cooperative law-enforcement agreements with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because of a dispute over federal game warden Bob Prieksat.

Rounds said Friday he had talked with FWS director Dale Hall and decided to delay taking any action on the agreements until at least next week.

"I did receive a phone call from Dale Hall. He's trying to work with us on the some issues," Rounds said. "We've agreed to mull over proposals from him over the weekend."

Rounds declined to reveal the details of his conversation with Hall or what the proposals might involve. But the call was enough for the governor to stop a process begun by his chief of staff, Rob Skjonsberg, to abrogate a package of memorandums of agreement for law enforcement work between the state Game, Fish & Parks Department and the FWS.

The memorandums of agreements make it easier for federal and state agencies to share resources to enforce wildlife laws.

The agreements also allow state officers to operate on American Indian reservations or cross state lines when authorized and overseen by federal agents.

In the eight-state region, which includes South Dakota, only North Dakota doesn't have such a framework of memorandums of agreements.

Skjonsberg began action to end the memorandums of agreements in South Dakota this week, saying FWS officials had missed a deadline to respond to the governor's demand that Prieksat be transferred or fired. Rounds and Skjonsberg have accused Prieksat of using bully tactics to enforce wildlife law and ordered GF&P officers to stop working with him and other FWS law-enforcement agents except in pre-approved instances.

It takes 30 days after written notice to terminate the memorandums of agreements. Rounds said he would have GF&P Secretary Jeff Vonk hold off on sending the letter to FWS officials, for now.

"He (Hall) did call me. And I've told him that I will listen to what they have to propose," Rounds said.

"And we will withhold formal action until we've had a chance to discuss it."

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com