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For Immediate Release
Bush Administration Erodes Protections for Endangered Ferret Habitat on Public Lands
Black-footed Ferrets and Thousands of Acres of Prairie Dog Colonies at Risk
SOUTH DAKOTA – The Bush Administration today released a plan that will allow destruction of previously-protected habitat critical for the black-footed ferret, one of the most endangered animals in North America. Black-footed ferrets can only survive in areas with numerous large prairie dog colonies because ferrets eat prairie dogs and live only in prairie dog burrows. Today’s decision allows the poisoning of 40 percent of prairie dog colonies on three National Grasslands in South Dakota and Nebraska, including more than 4,000 acres in Conata Basin, home to the only ferret population in the world nearing recovery.
"This plan undermines an Endangered Species Act success story," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, former Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and now Executive Vice President of Defenders of Wildlife. "Taxpayers who have paid for black-footed ferret recovery in Conata Basin will now be forced to pay to destroy some of this same ferret habitat."
According to scientists, 120 breeding adult ferrets are required for a local population to maintain itself over time. Only Conata Basin (an area on the Buffalo Gap National Grassland) comes close to this goal, with about 100 breeding adult ferrets at last count; each of the other nine black-footed ferret reintroduction sites falls far short of this viable population threshold. In fact, Conata Basin contains more than half of all ferrets in the wild.
"With this decision to destroy critical black-footed ferret habitat, the Bush Administration is further endangering our native wildlife on our public lands," noted Jonathan Proctor, Defenders of Wildlife’s Great Plains Representative. "Political interference is preventing federal land managers from doing their jobs and living up to their responsibilities to protect endangered wildlife habitat on our public lands."
"The Bush administration is threatening the only healthy population of black-footed ferrets on Earth," said Jon Schwedler, communications director for Predator Conservation Alliance. "Most South Dakotans support our native wildlife and oppose this needless destruction."
The new plan rolls back protections put in place in 1998 and 2002 that prohibited shooting and includes loopholes for poisoning of any prairie dogs within the 73,000-acre Conata Basin black-footed ferret recovery area. Today's decision effectively removes protection from 30 percent (21,500 acres) of this ferret recovery area (containing 4,260 acres of prairie dogs), and loopholes for poisoning possibly even more. Mass poisoning and shooting could begin as early as October 1.
Today’s decision also allows poisoning of 83 percent of prairie dogs and unlimited shooting of 100 percent of prairie dogs on the rest of the Buffalo Gap, Fort Pierre, and Oglala National Grasslands. Today’s plan also turns its back on the Forest Service’s responsibility to restore ferrets to a second location on Buffalo Gap National Grassland in the "Smithwick" area.
"The Bush administration has repeatedly charged that the Endangered Species Act has not done a good enough job recovering species but, when given the chance to further the recovery of the black-footed ferret, the most endangered mammal in North America, the administration chooses to undermine that recovery in the Conata Basin," said Bob Irvin, director of U.S. conservation for World Wildlife Fund.
In March 2005 more than 12,000 Americans asked the Bush administration to keep the existing wildlife protections in place so that black-footed ferret recovery can continue to succeed. These protections covered less than 20 percent of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland. Although livestock grazing was allowed even in these protected areas, many ranchers were not happy with this reasonable arrangement.
"The livestock industry didn't like the fact that their cattle had to share Conata Basin's public lands with wildlife, so they had their allies in the White House scrap the rules," said Lauren McCain, Deserts and Grasslands Program Coordinator for Forest Guardians. "The Bush administration has eroded black-footed ferret habitat protection so that a handful of livestock grazers can have a few more blades of public grass for their privately-owned cattle."
Defenders of Wildlife, Forest Guardians, Predator Conservation Alliance, World Wildlife Fund and others continue to promote reasonable solutions that can save the black-footed ferrets and their prairie dog habitat on public lands while also meeting the needs of adjacent landowners. For example, requiring tall grass buffers to grow next to adjacent private lands by eliminating livestock grazing would prevent prairie dogs from colonizing boundary areas, and over $300,000 in financial incentives is available to pay landowners for maintaining ferret habitat and/or to offset livestock grazing losses during drought—the real cause of ranchers' financial troubles.
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Defenders of Wildlife is a leading non-profit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation’s most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 490,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species issues. To stay current on hot topics in wildlife conservation, please visit www.defenders.org.
