As a recently retired wildlife biologist, I was well aware of what has
been transpiring out in the Canada Basin as well as what direction is
coming from Capitol Hill. The CNN article "Broken Government" hit the
nail on the head.dead on for a welcome change.

Everyone has their opinion on prairie dog management and "welfare
ranching". the cheap leasing of federal lands that allows ranchers to
run so-called cow/calf units on grazing allotments.fattening up their
stock with the cheap subsidy of our good taxpayer grass. The ranchers
see the "dogs" as open competition for their cattle (and often blame
the burrow holes in the "dog" towns as a cause of cattle leg injuries)
as they try to maintain their established way of life out on the range.
Who could blame them.they are merely taking advantage of a system put
in place long ago to help out the cattle industry.

But to anyone who watched the "Broken Govt" segment on CNN last night
dealing with the ranchers/pdogs and Black-footed Ferrets, there can be
only one conclusion..and one only. IT's not a compromise, it's LAW.
The Endangered Species Act or ESA. That act MANDATES the saving of
the Black-footed Ferret as a species as well as for providing for its
ultimate RECOVERY via reintroduction to its historic range.the Canada
Basin being a prime example of that habitat.

Now it's no secret that the pdogs and the BFF and the whole prairie
ecosystem depend on one another for the whole deal to work out. There
are myriads of species that are all intimately tied together in the
recovery of the BFF and if it goes down, many others will too
(including, some say the much maligned P DOG!). It irks me to no end
that one agency..the U.S. Dept. Agriculture Forest Service (who runs
the nations National Forests and National Grasslands) can put out such
poor EIS documents that do not hold up to ultimate scrutiny and hence
implementation. In matters of the ESA and specifically the RECOVERY
phase of the BFF, the U.S. Dept of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service
SHOULD hold the trump card over the Forest Service and its desire to
please the ranchers.

But apparently, no.due of course to bureaucratic bungling and dragging
of feet at the highest levels. The F&WS (and hence our little BFF
friends) have been given the back seat in the ploy to open up the
Canada Basin to MASSIVE PDOG POISONING.

Here's what we need. first pass this along to every ferret friend you
have. Second, immediately sit down and compose a letter to the man in
charge for the USDA Forest Service.in this case Mr. Mark Rey (since
it appears to be a "top down" management strategy). Tell him what you
think.politely of course.and that the ESA demands that the BFF recovery
takes precedence over the poor downtrodden ranchers out there. Too bad!
Then cc a copy to USDI Fish and Wildlife Service demanding that they
dig their heels in and proceed, per law, with the recovery plans.
The least we can do is bring this thing to a standstill until a new
administration comes n and reviews the situation. Then, if it needs
to go to court there are plenty of enviro groups out there who are
already lining up on this one.

To do anything less is to perhaps doom our BFF friends to the ultimate
fate.and I for one am not willing to go there just yet.

Putorius and the 8 tumbling tumbleweeds

[Posted in FML 5893]