Connecting the equestrian community in Boulder County
A Call to Action: Prairie Dog Management Practices
On Tuesday May 7th at 6:00 PM the City of Boulder Open Space Board of Trustees will be presenting their recommendations to Boulder City Council on prairie dog (PD) management. We are asking our members to please consider taking the time to attend this meeting, or to write a letter to all City Council members (e-mails below), and to support the OSBT’s recommendations (see attached).
Boulder County has a rich agricultural heritage, which began in the late 1860s and the future of agriculture in Boulder County and the health of our grasslands should be of concern for all citizens. The mission of Boulder County Open Space is to preserve and protect the natural environment and land resources that characterize Boulder. We foster appreciation and uses that sustain the natural values of the land for current and future generations.
The proper stewardship of our grasslands, includes maintaining a healthy balance for all species and should not favor one component to the detriment of others. Continuing to protect agriculture as way of life, and the farmers that lease and care for the open space agricultural properties also needs to be protected. The voice of private property owners and the concerns they have about adjoining open space land management practices also needs to be heard as escalating numbers of colonies are destroying their lands.
No one denies that prairie dogs (PD) are important to the ecosystem, but when one species numbers causes the destruction of another through lack of natural predation, and destroys grasslands then they must be managed, and all options should be considered.
Whether you are a meat eater or vegan it does not matter.
If the farmers that lease our open space properties leave Boulder and head further east or to Nebraska and Wyoming we will lose the managers of these lands. These hard working families know how to farm it, water it and keep it productive. Should they leave, OSMP does not have the staff to take over this management and keep it in production. We will have no local crops and meats, and farmers markets will not be able to carry local produce. This is already happening, as our current rules about PD management has caused severe losses to the farmers and the lands themselves.
We all value life.
This is a difficult decision with many points of view, but OSMP managers need to add lethal control practices to their toolbox. When Boulder’s City Council enacted PD protection years ago they may not have foreseen what the flood, climate change and exponential growth of one species meant to the health of our grasslands and agricultural properties.
Advocates believe that non-lethal methods such as relocation, and waiting for the plague should be the only management tools. However, it has been 10 years or more since we have seen plague. The use of insecticides by OSMP on the origination and relocation receiving sites to prevent plague has other consequences that detrimentally affect bees, predatory insects and amphibian life. Relocation has also become an unrealistic solution, as we do not have enough receiving sites to accommodate the numbers of PD’s dogs that currently need relocation, nor does OSMPs have the resources. Additionally, We need to take care that our southern grasslands don’t become a dumping ground for relocating prairie dogs that have overpopulated other areas, as we should be protecting this rare grassland ecosystem.
Currently, open space only has enough land to relocate about 700 PD’s per year. The number of PDs’ that need relocation is in the thousands and growing. How humane is rounding up live prairie dogs and trucking them to a black footed ferret rehab program? How humane is boxing in colonies with fences and letting them multiply until there is nothing to sustain them? Introducing natural predators, such as the black-footed ferrets is complex. Ferrets require acreage, and one ferret may eat one prairie dog every 3 to 4 days, which amounts to about 100 PD’s per year. Predatory birds and mammals rely on prairie dogs for food—but there are not enough predators to control the current prairie dog populations on our open space properties.
Please take time to write City Council before Tuesday, May 7th. Choose a talking point that is important to you and add your voice to this issue.
Boulder City Council Meeting
May 7 / 6:00 PM
1777 Broadway, Boulder
The proper stewardship of our grasslands, includes maintaining a healthy balance for all species and should not favor one component to the detriment of others. Continuing to protect agriculture as way of life, and the farmers that lease and care for the open space agricultural properties also needs to be protected. The voice of private property owners and the concerns they have about adjoining open space land management practices also needs to be heard as escalating numbers of colonies are destroying their lands.
Advocates believe that non-lethal methods such as relocation, and waiting for the plague should be the only management tools. However, it has been 10 years or more since we have seen plague. The use of insecticides by OSMP on the origination and relocation receiving sites to prevent plague has other consequences that detrimentally affect bees, predatory insects and amphibian life. Relocation has also become an unrealistic solution, as we do not have enough receiving sites to accommodate the numbers of PD’s dogs that currently need relocation, nor does OSMPs have the resources. Additionally, We need to take care that our southern grasslands don’t become a dumping ground for relocating prairie dogs that have overpopulated other areas, as we should be protecting this rare grassland ecosystem.