Ranchers Urge Officials to Drop Ferret Reintroduction Plans

Thunder Basin National Grassland (AP) — Landowners near the Thunder Basin National Grassland in northeast Wyoming are urging federal officials to abandon plans of reintroducing black-footed ferrets into the region.

The Laramie Boomerang reports a representative of ranchers asked state lawmakers at the Federal Natural Resource Management Committee meeting last week to push federal officials for greater prairie dog management.

Ferrets prey upon prairie dogs, requiring large numbers to sustain a population.

Attorney Karen Budd-Falen, who represented the ranchers, says prairie dogs have caused loss of forage, causing ranchers to reduce livestock herds.

Tyler Abbott, a supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Wyoming, says ferret reintroduction is not possible until there is greater support from the community and improvement of habitat.

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Information from: Laramie Boomerang, http://www.laramieboomerang.com