February 9, 2006
To: Kansas House of Representatives Agricultural Committee
Members
Subject: The Black Tailed Prairie Dog as an Agricultural resource
My pursuits in the hobby of long range rifle shooting have
landed me in the middle of a brouhaha between Kansas ranchers
who hate prairie dogs and those who see them as a source of economic
benefit. I have included previous letters I have written to the
Logan County Commission as attachments to this email. Please allow
them to serve as background regarding my involvement in this matter
over the past year.
I think it is prophetic to have received a request from Gene
Bertrand of Wallace, Kansas to send this email within hours of
having a discussion with a fellow I met in a local gun shop in
St. Charles, Missouri. This fellow was telling the proprietor
of the shop that he and several of his friends were planning on
going to Kansas or South Dakota to shoot prairie dogs this summer.
The proprietor of the shop told him that I was the person to talk
to about that subject. This would have been a perfect opportunity
for me to direct the fellow to western Kansas and send some much
needed dollars in that direction. However, instead, I had to give
him the name of contacts in Wyoming and South Dakota. The reason
is that I knew that Gene Bertrand was the last bastion of prairie
dog hunting in Western Kansas and I knew that he was booked for
the entire season. In talking to the fellow, Kansas was his first
choice because it is closer.
Thirty- six years ago I received my BS in Animal Science
from Colorado State University. The prospects facing the family
ranch/farm were dimming significantly then. Subsequently, I lived
in Kansas for three years (1970-1974) while stationed at Fort
Riley. I lived in Manhattan and got to know quite a few ranchers
in the Olsburg and Westmoreland areas through my hunting pursuits.
It was evident during these years that my friends were being challenged
to continue their agrarian lifestyle. I don’t think it will
shock any of you that these challenges have become more difficult
and that the family farm is in dire straits; which further endanger
the small towns that support them.
One of the sources ranchers and farmers in many states have
tapped for much needed revenue is agritourism/hunting. Working
hand-in-hand with the State Conservation Authorities, landowners
have improved habitat and altered farming and grazing practices
to bring back game animals. A driving force behind this successful
partnership was that the landowners realized an economic benefit
from the replenished stocks of game. Many became outfitters and
gave guided hunts. Others leased their land for hunting rights.
The real entrepreneurs provided lodging and eating facilities
and provided full service hunting lodges. Hunters came to areas
that provided hunting opportunities and left economic benefit
behind. They shopped in local stores, ate in local restaurants,
stayed in local motels, bought gasoline and hunting supplies in
local outlets. The State of Kansas received the benefit of increased
license and tag sales. It has been a win-win situation for all
parties concerned. The rancher did not seek the eradication of
the whitetail deer because it chose to eat the tender pods off
his soybean plants. He did not groan about the acreage no longer
available for tillage or grazing because it was now habitat for
wild turkey, pheasant, quail and prairie chicken. Why? Because
it was a proven fact that these game species represented dollars
to him and his neighbors.
Yet what seems to be a logical extension of this proven benefit
becomes a chasm of conflict when the subject of the black-tailed
prairie dog is introduced into the equation. When we cut through
the generations old prejudices and the pie-in-the- sky studies
of the benefits of the prairie dog we are left with an obvious
fact. They are not as detrimental as the kill-em-all faction maintains
and they are not as beneficial as the aren’t-they-cute crowd
boasts. Left unchecked and out of control they will destroy grassland
with their burrowing and overgrazing. On the other hand their
eradication has seen their natural predators forced to seek a
diet of game animals and young livestock It has also been noticed
that when the prairie dogs are poisoned out the rabbits move in;
and, it hasn’t been all that long ago that Kansas suffered
the devastation caused from an over abundance of rabbits.
The point-of-view that I represent is that the black-tailed
prairie dog can be a game animal and an economic resource. Allow
those landowners that want to have them on their property be allowed
to do so if they also allow them to be hunted as a game animal.
I offer the following suggestions towards that end:
- Put conservation of the black-tailed prairie dog under
the control of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
Their study “ The Kansas Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Conservation
and Management Plan of July 2002 should serve as the beginning
of the regeneration of prairie dogs in Western Kansas counties.
- Rescind the ability of County and local governments to
pursue eradication programs.
- Continue to require the purchase of a Kansas small game
hunting license to hunt the black-tailed prairie dog.
- Establish a $30.00 annual prairie dog tag required in
addition to the small game license. Landowners would not be
required to have the tag to shoot prairie dogs on their own
property. Revenue from these tags to be split equally between
the Wildlife & Parks Department and the county in which
the tag was purchased: or if purchased in a non prairie dog
county, the county stated by the hunter in which the activity
was to take place.
- Establish a means whereby the Kansas Tourism industry
can connect prairie dog hunters with landowners having prairie
dog hunting available.
I and my hunting buddy are bringing three new hunters to
Gene Bertrand’s in May for a week’s hunt. Last year
I was at Gene’s four times for a total of 16 days. I brought
my grandson on one hunt, thereby introducing a new generation
to the sport. And, I am just one hunter. Tens of thousands other
hunters are available to be introduced or reaquainted with Kansas
prairie dog shooting. The majority of these hunters will return
and many will bring other hunters.
Kansas has two outstanding things to offer as attractions;
History and Hunting. I feel the current method of dealing with
the black-tailed prairie dog in your state is shortsighted and
is robbing western Kansas of many agritourism dollars. I would
be more than willing to travel to Topeka at my own expense to
testify before your committee. I am passionate about my sport
and equally as passionate about the solid American way of life
it can help support, if allowed.
Thank you for your time and Best Regards,
David R. London
217 Quail Run Drive
Defiance, Missouri 63341
