Photo: Rich Reading

On September 22, 2004 Forest Guardians along with a coalition of 7 other organizations filed a legal injunction in a Denver Federal Court to stop a government-sponsored mass extermination of black-tailed prairie dogs in South Dakota's Buffalo Gap National Grassland.

The Conata Basin in Buffalo Gap National Grassland is home to the only successful black-footed ferret recovery site in the world. Ferrets are one of the most endangered mammals in North America and are totally dependent on prairie dogs for food and their burrows for shelter. Killing prairie dogs in Conata Basin will harm endangered ferrets and threaten the success of the national ferret recovery effort.

"The state and federal agencies aren't considering common sense alternatives; there is a common ground solution, if people can see with their hearts that wild animals have a spirit and a purpose alongside humankind." said Doris Respects Nothing, a local Oglala Lakota who is South Dakota Program Director for Great Plains Restoration Council. "The prairie dogs have been here longer than anybody and our lands used to be so full of life because of them."

“Ferret recovery in the Buffalo Gap National Grassland illustrates that with America’s strong commitment to our natural heritage we can recover imperiled species—even from the brink of extinction,” stated Lauren McCain of Forest Guardians “Conata Basin is unique, a showcase for wildlife recovery in South Dakota and the United States.”