News Release, April 23, 2001
Contact: Jonathan Proctor, Grassland Associate or Andrea Poet, Communications Director at (406)587-3389
Wyoming's Thunder Basin National Grassland Protected for Black-Footed Ferrets
Today, then U.S. Forest Service announced a seasonal shooting closure in the Thunder Basin National Grassland in eastern Wyoming. This area has been designated as a reintroduction site for the endangered black-footed ferret, and the shooting ban is critical to a successful reintroduction.
"We are pleased to see the Forest Service taking black-footed ferret recovery seriously," said Jonathan Proctor of Predator Conservation Alliance, a conservation group that sought the shooting ban.
Since 1998, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has asked the Forest Service on four separate occasions to curb prairie dog shooting in the reintroduction area. Prairie dogs are the main source of food for black-footed ferrets, and ferrets live in prairie dog burrows. Thunder Basin contains one of only seven large prairie dog colonies remaining in North America.
On April 19, the Forest Service signed an order to implement a one-year, seasonal ban on discharging firearms in a portion of the Thunder Basin National Grassland that is slated for ferret reintroduction. This shooting ban will run from May 16 to September 14, and will not interfere with state regulated hunting seasons (such as wild turkey and antelope).
The Thunder Basin National Grassland represents the best remaining habitat for black-footed ferrets on federal lands. It contains more acres of prairie dogs than any other National Grassland. The next best prairie dog town on public lands is located in the Buffalo Gap National Grassland in South Dakota, home to the most successful black-footed ferret reintroduction site to date. Ferret reintroduction began there in 1995, and now over 200 exist. Prairie dog shooting was banned there in 1998.
About 72,500 acres, less than a quarter of the National Grassland, will be affected by the shooting ban. The rest of the grassland will not be closed to prairie dog shooting, but the Forest Service will no longer encourage prairie dog shooting anywhere on the National Grassland.
"We are happy to see the Forest Service do the right thing by implementing this seasonal ban. We look forward to a year-round, permanent prairie dog shooting ban in this critical area," said Proctor.
While no accurate data exists on the number of prairie dogs killed in the Thunder Basin Grassland, the Forest Service has reported, "exponential growth in interest" in prairie dog shooting over the past five years.
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