Tensions over prairie dogs on the Thunder Basin National Grassland continue to mount, and another effort to help the various entities involved in the ongoing dispute settle their differences was launched in Newcastle last week.
On April 13, the Ruckelshaus Institute hosted a Thunder Basin National Grassland (TBNG) Collaborative Learning Workshop at the Weston County Senior Center with the stated intent to determine the values, information, needs and desired conditions surrounding the issue of prairie dogs on the TBNG.
During the workshop, those in attendance— representing at least three different counties— were divided into workgroups to discuss four different questions developed by the Institute. Those questions included whether or not issues and concerns identified a year earlier had been addressed, additional issues or concerns that should be brought to the attention of the cooperative working group and the US Forest Service, and possible solutions to these issues.