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Rick Cables, Regional Forester
USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region
P.O. Box 25127; Lakewood, CO 80225-0127
ph: 303-275-5450; fax: 303-275-5482
email: rcables@fs.fed.us
web mail: www.fs.fed.us/r2/contact/feedback/
SOURCE: www.wflccenter.org/about/fs_western_regions.php

The Honorable Mark Rey
Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Room 217E, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250
ph: 202-720-7173; fax 202-720-0632
email: mark.rey@usda.gov
SOURCE: www.funoutdoors.com/node/view/1808

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Dear Under Secretary Rey and Mr. Cables,

The eradication of prairie dogs in the western grasslands of Conata Basin is a stunning example of government duplicity at the taxpayer's expense.

On one hand, USDA is eager to appease roughly 15 ranchers who claim prairie dogs and cows vie for the same grass. These government- subsidized ranchers want USDA Forest Service to poison up to two-thirds of Conata Basin prairie dogs.

On the other hand, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has invested 26 years and over $25 million taxpayer dollars to renew the black-footed ferret, among the most endangered mammals in North America. This program continues to release ferrets back into the wild, including the largest population of about 300 ferrets in the basin.

I am disgusted USDA is set to undermine Fish and Wildlife by killing prairie dogs — the black-footed ferret's primary sustenance. The extermination of prairie dogs is not only inhumane and excessive, it also undoes the ferret's comeback by wiping out 90% of their diet.

How can one agency save an imperiled animal, while another destroys the same animal?

Ranchers have already persuaded the forest service to exterminate prairie dogs on federal lands adjacent to their private property. The poisoning occurs annually. Now, USDA is poised to sabotage Fish and Wildlife's ferret reintroduction plan by poisoning even more Conata Basin prairie dogs.

The prairie dog is a key link in the Badlands/Conata Basin chain, where restoration of bison, bighorn sheep, black-footed ferrets and swift fox form a nearly inclusive Great Plains ecosystem. Conata Basin supports the only large black-tailed prairie dog complex on federal lands.

Cattle graze on almost 100% of national grasslands, whereas prairie dogs occupy less than 1%. I ask the U.S. government to stop killing prairie dogs.

Please do not spend taxpayer dollars on private-interest ranchers. Please do not transform public lands into slaughter grounds. Poison assures a painful death, with internal bleeding that may last as long as 72 hours. Poison also affects burrowing owls, rabbits, songbirds and more non-target species.

I strongly urge USDA to invest in a non-violent, non-lethal approach to prairie dog control on interior lands. And while you're at it, preserve the black-footed ferret — a species our tax dollars helped to save in the first place.

Thank you,

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