Black-Footed Ferrets Return to Kansas Prairies
Tuesday Dec. 20, 2007
 A
wondrous event occurred just before sunset on Tuesday evening--a
week before Christmas. Twenty-four Black-footed Ferret pups were
released in the wild to begin the restoration of a vibrant part
of the Kansas wildlife heritage missing for fifty years. This was
a heart-warming and historic occasion. The ferrets were released
on private properties in Logan County, Kansas. Fourteen were divided
between two release sites approximately two miles apart on ranchlands
owned by Larry Haverfield, Gordon Barnhardt and Maxine Blank.
The
release of these ferrets is the cumulative result of more than two
years of perseverance by these determined wildlife-friendly landowners,
and decades of attention by Audubon staff in Manhattan. This Audubon
of Kansas initiative links back in an intriguing way to the trip
that John James Audubon made up the Missouri River in 1843. Audubon
was the first to document the existence of Black-footed Ferrets
for scientific purposes. Museum records indicate that Kansas was
a significant “stronghold” for Black-footed Ferrets
prior to poisoning campaigns intended to essentially exterminate
prairie dogs from all of their historic range in the western two-thirds
of the state.
Ron Klataske, Executive Director of Audubon of Kansas, was invited
in September 2005 to tour several Logan County ranches with prairie
dog colonies and help document ecological values for other wildlife.
It was soon apparent that as many as three different private ranch
complexes had the potential to support experimental reintroductions
of Black-footed Ferrets. 
In
a partnership initiative with Audubon of Kansas, five landowner
families with 26,000 acres of ranchland sent a letter in November
2005 requesting that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service evaluate
their properties for potential reintroduction of the endangered
Black-footed Ferret. Two Logan County ranch landowners, Gordon Barnhardt
of Bucklin and Gene Bertrand of Wallace, had separately contacted
wildlife agencies two decades earlier to indicate a willingness
to host ferrets on their land following the discovery of a small
population in Wyoming in 1981 and establishment of a captive breeding
program to bring them back from the brink of extinction.
Mapping of the colonies documented that prairie dogs were scattered
over approximately 6,000 acres within their contiguous ranches consisting
of 10,000 acres. It is the only prairie dog complex of this size
in Kansas, fulfilling key goals of the state’s prairie dog
management and wildlife diversity plans, and the top rated site
for potential recovery of Black-footed Ferrets in Kansas.
Larry
Haverfield and Gordon Barnhardt have been at the forefront of a
major conservation controversy that has pitted them and their attorney,
Randy Rathbun of Wichita, against attorneys representing Logan County
commissioners and the Kansas Farm Bureau . These wildlife-friendly
landowners have resisted the efforts to force them and other landowners
to poison their lands to exterminate prairie dogs. Prairie dogs
are a keystone species within the shortgrass prairie ecosystem.
Prairie Dogs provide habitat and serve as prey for a diverse array
of other species including Black-footed Ferrets, Burrowing Owls,
Golden Eagles, Ferruginous Hawks and Swift Foxes.
Klataske said these wildlife heroes have invested tens of thousands
of dollars defending their right to conserve native wildlife on
their land. The century-old state statutes that allow county commissions
to mandate eradication and enter private lands with poison campaigns
to kill native wildlife violates ever acceptable concept of property
rights and modern conservation standards. Poisoning with Rozol and
Phostoxin results in poisoning of Swift Foxes, Burrowing Owls, Bald
and Golden Eagles, Ferruginous Hawks and many other species.
Decades of thoughtless destruction of wildlife nearly or completely
exterminated Eskimo Curlews, Whooping Cranes, Bison, Pronghorn Antelope,
Black-footed Ferrets and many other species from the Great Plains.
Sadly, those same perversive attitudes continue to this day, demanding
eradication of Black-tailed Prairie Dogs and  elimination of the
“ecosystem” of wildlife diversity they support.
With
antiquated state statutes imposed for more than a century, poisoning
campaigns designed to eradicate prairie dogs are still being imposed
on ranch landowners without their permission. Audubon of Kansas
has taken the leadership role in asking the Kansas legislature to
repeal and revise the most destructive sections of those statutes.
Our recommendations are reflected in Senate Bill 257.
In addition to the fourteen ferrets released on the large prairie
dog complex within the Haverfield/Barnhardt/Blank properties, ten
were taken to The Nature Conservancy’s property ten miles
to the east which has been managed to retain approximately 2,000
acres of prairie dogs within the Smoky Valley Ranch Preserve.
Audubon of Kansas has been and will continue to provide the most
active organizational leadership role in the tremendously promising
opportunity to bring captivity-raised Black-footed Ferrets back
to Kansas for reintroduction on ranches where the landowners welcome
the chance to host this endangered species. Recovery of this species
is a natural priority for Audubon of Kansas, and it is an honor
to work with these heroic families--and dedicated biologists within
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Special thanks go to all of you who have helped in many ways to
make potential recovery of this endangered species possible.
View
More Photos of the Reintroduction
Additional Information:
U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service News Release --Dec. 20th
U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service Frequently Asked Questions
Press Alert: Photos available for press use. Credit
Ron Klataske.
Email
Audubon of Kansas for larger photo files if needed.
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