County officials hope feds will listen to working group
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) recently created a land management and resource cooperative working group with other government agencies that have shared responsibilities and interest in the Thunder Basin National Grassland (TBNG), and several Weston County agencies have assigned representatives to attend meetings scheduled over the next few months, with the next one scheduled for April.
“This new effort by the USFS will encourage open, transparent, and consistent communications with its neighbors, local, state and Tribal governments and other Federal agencies. Initially, it is expected that the new group will deal with charter formation and will engage in discussion about important resource issues and concerns,” stated a release from the United States Department of Agriculture, which indicated the establishment of the group is in response to requests from state and local governments to have an open working relationship when it comes to dealing with prairie dog management on the TBNG. It is anticipated that the cooperative working group will primarily share information, discuss options and problem solve.