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Published March 29, 2011, 01:20 PM

Feds say N.D. prairie dog management plan working

The U.S. Forest Service says its goal of increasing black-tailed prairie dog populations on federal grasslands in western North Dakota is working. The agency says so are its poisoning efforts to rid the rodents in areas that border private and state land.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service says its goal of increasing black-tailed prairie dog populations on federal grasslands in western North Dakota is working. The agency says so are its poisoning efforts to rid the rodents in areas that border private and state land.

Agency biologist Dan Svingen (SWING’-en) says oats laced with rodenticide have been scattered over nearly 2,400 acres of federal grasslands in North Dakota since 2006, killing an estimated 41,000 prairie dogs.

The Forest Service considers prairie dogs an important species. Svingen says the agency wants to see the population grow on federal land.

North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring says prairie dogs are considered pests by farmers and ranchers. He says prairie dogs are still a problem despite the Forest Service's poisoning efforts.

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