Citing Species Act, Judge Spares Prairie Dogs

A Kansas rancher’s long battle against the poisoning of this state’s biggest prairie dog colony is being hailed as a significant victory for wildlife conservation. Numbering about 25,000 prairie dogs in far western Kansas, the colony is a prime source of food for one of the most endangered mammals in the world, the black-footed ferret. Larry Haverfield, the 74-year-old rancher on whose land the colony thrives, went to court to stop commissioners in Logan County from exterminating the prairie dogs without his permission, despite a 1901 state law that allows them to do so. Last month, the judge hearing the case here sided with Mr. Haverfield and Gordon Barnhardt, who also owns some of the land. “It’s important because it says the Endangered Species Act trumps a 100-year-old state law that forces the extermination of prairie dogs,” said the men’s lawyer, Randy Rathbun...more