| What
Can a Person do to Support the Proposed Experimental Reintroduction
of Black-footed Ferrets in Kansas?
1). Write
or call U.S. Senators Pat
Roberts and Sam
Brownback and Congressman Jerry
Moran urging that they step forward to request that Assistant
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior remove the political
“block” that has prevented the publication of
the Environmental Assessment of the proposal in the Federal
Register for nearly five months.
Publication in the Federal Register is necessary so that
residents of Kansas and others can express their comments
(during a 30-day comment period) on the proposed reintroduction,
have their views officially recorded and allow the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service to professionally consider all comments
as part of their decision process.
We prefer to believe that incompetence is responsible for
this lengthy delay in Washington D.C. However, we have reason
to believe that the Kansas Farm Bureau and a member of the
Kansas Legislature from the area approached a member of the
Kansas Congressional Delegation asking that he urge an official
at the politically appointed level within the Department of
the Interior to put the Federal Register announcement on hold--and
to effectively block U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service consideration
of the experimental reintroduction.
The length of the delay adds even more credence to the above
possibility than the third-hand account that was passed along
by a friend in western Kansas. A friend of his indicated that
an acquaintance “discretely” bragged that the
Farm Bureau’s political strategy was going to block
the ferret project. Apparently by giving Logan County Commissioners
time to “eliminate the problem.” That apparently
meant the county would eradicate the prairie dogs before Black-footed
Ferrets could be released. As news
accounts detailing the events of Saturday, November 18
recorded, the county certainly tried to achieve that objective
by sending out a poison contractor from Wyoming on Thanksgiving
weekend.
Although the alleged political strategy is not substantiated
on the part of any member of the Kansas Congressional delegation,
and possibly wishful thinking on the part of opponents, the
Kansas Farm Bureau has demonstrated determination to:
--undermine any effort by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
to aide in the recovery of Black-footed Ferrets within the
state of Kansas
--to force landowners to eradicate prairie dog colonies
wherever and whenever anyone (especially any of their members)
objects to the presence of this native prairie species.
**Read
a statement from the Kansas Farm Bureau to the Logan County
Commissioners**
2). Contact
the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Manhattan, Kansas
and asked to be on a list to be notified when the Environment
Assessment is published in the Federal Register so you can
express your views and have it made a part of the official
record.
3). Stay in
the Loop and Stay Involved. Stay in touch with Audubon
of Kansas and/or any other organization that will keep you
up to date on developments and/or post timely information
on a website. Please let us know if you want to be specifically
included with any communications on the subject. We plan to
enhance our attention to this responsibility with this website,
our AOK e-Newsletter, Action Alerts and the AOK
Blog.
4). Everyone,
especially those with some farming connection and those who
have Farm Bureau insurance or do business with their financial
services department, may want to contact the state president
of KFB, and/or an agent to urge them to work to support--rather
than oppose--recovery of Black-footed Ferrets in Kansas.
Also urge them to support repeal of eradication statutes and
respect the property rights of landowners who choose to include
conservation of wildlife as a part of their stewardship of
their land.
The president of the Kansas Farm Bureau is Steve Baccus.
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