PRAIRIE DOG UPDATE: ...and now for the nitty-gritty...
BOLD VISIONS CONSERVATION
PRAIRIE DOG UPDATE: ...and now for the nitty-gritty...
I thought I'd spell out the reality of this prairie dog relocation for you.
The City of Clovis has no desire to have any prairie dogs in their town, a fact driven mostly by the rancher-influenced City Commission. If they are not relocated THEY WILL BE POISONED! This will not only kill prairie dogs, it will harm other species as well, including burrowing owls and black-footed ferrets.
There's a HUGE number of prairie dogs we're dealing with, between 25-60,000: about 25-40,000 in Ned Houk Park (north of Clovis,) and an unknown number in several other parks and city lots inside the city proper.
A group will tour all the locations with City Manager John Thomas and Parks & Recreation Manager, Bill Bizzell, in early to mid April, to get a better assessment and start forming a plan of action.
The spring pups will be old enough to move starting the third week of June, however no matter when we move them, this process is very stressful to both prairie dogs and people.
We continue to communicate with the BLM. Our hope is to inspect some sites by late April. In April we will also tour an experimental colony site at Sevilletta National Wildlife Refuge, to learn about potential relocation issues.
This is a LONG TERM process, taking many days of removal, and possibly more than one season. The GOAL is to remove the "problem" dogs inside the city of Clovis first, then proceed to Ned Houk Park.
If you think you might be able to volunteer, call Joe Adair (505) 319-3754.
HELP! We need donations to help pay for all of this relocation work!
More to come!
A special thanks to Susan Hubby, whose passionate work fighting City Hall for the past 7 years paved this path to progress, to Prairie Dog Pals' Yvonne Boudreaux, to Clovis City Manager Joe Thomas, to USFWS Biologist John Ord, and to the SE NM Office of the Bureau of Land Management.
HERE IS THE URL TO THE ORIGINAL STORY: http://www.causes.com/actions/1737962-prairie-dog-slaughter-in-progress-in-clovis-nm-we-need-your-help?open_dialog=inviter&utm_campaign=activity_mailer%2Factivity_update&utm_medium=email&utm_source=causes&token=LjsS6GzhPSWCYCWbRXtWGDQq
