How would wilderness affect prairie dog management?
Wilderness designation should not affect the authority of the U.S. Forest Service and the South Dakota Game Fish and Parks Department to address the prairie dog issue. All wildlife in South Dakota, including prairie dogs, is owned by the State of South Dakota, even in wilderness. Wildlife is cooperatively managed on U.S. Forest Service lands through a Memorandum of Understanding and mutual planning efforts. The Wilderness Act assures that state wildlife management responsibilities continue. Currently, the State of South Dakota is developing a prairie dog management plan so that it can better manage these animals on both public and private lands. The State’s completion of this plan will clarify management methods for prairie dog populations in the future. In addition, the Forest Service has informed the State that it will adopt the goals and objectives noted in that plan.
