Judge backs feds in Wyoming black-footed ferret reintroduction dispute

A federal judge has upheld the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's plans for managing black-footed ferrets in Wyoming, the state where the once-presumed-extinct species was rediscovered some four decades ago. 

The dispute over how the federal government managed the endangered weasel-like animal traces back nearly a decade to when federal wildlife managers officially designated the Wyoming population as "nonessential, experimental." That classification allows for more regulatory flexibility than other Endangered Species Act designations, loosening restrictions on potentially harmful activities, like killing prairie dogs that ferrets depend upon.

WildEarth Guardians, Western Watersheds Project and Rocky Mountain Wild challenged the nonessential, experimental rule in 2021, arguing that the agency violated federal environmental laws, ignored the best-available science and improperly relaxed Endangered Species Act protections in order to accommodate private landowners.

But U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss, out of the District of Columbia, sided against the plaintiffs on all arguments last week, concluding that federal wildlife managers had abided by the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act. 

"Ultimately, although framed as a NEPA challenge, plaintiffs simply disagree with the [Fish and Wildlife Service]'s decision about how best to facilitate the reintroduction of the black-footed ferret in the state of Wyoming," Moss wrote in a 75-page opinion filed Thursday. "The agency's preferred approach, however, fell well within its discretion and was both reasoned and adequately explained."

A "nonessential, experimental" population - the same approach used when wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1990s - is managed with more flexibility than the Endangered Species Act normally permits. There's more latitude to incidentally or directly cause ferret deaths and disrupt habitat. Because black-footed ferret diets are upwards of 90% prairie dogs, they're dependent on occupied prairie dog colonies.

WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project staffers were unable to be reached Monday morning for an interview. When the plaintiffs announced their 2021 lawsuit, they took issue with leaving Wyoming in charge of recovery efforts in the state. 

"Putting the State of Wyoming in charge of black-footed ferret recovery has proven to be the worst possible idea," WildEarth Guardians staff attorney Jennifer Schwartz said in a statement at the time. "Black-footed ferrets need large, healthy prairie dog colonies to survive, but Wyoming and its agencies won't give an inch in their efforts to exterminate prairie dogs." 

Prairie dogs are classified as a pest in Wyoming and can be killed indiscriminately. They're oftentimes poisoned and are the subjects of recreational shooters' target practice.  

Moss did not fault the Fish and Wildlife Service for citing "political and public acceptance issues" in its justification of a nonessential, experimental population in Wyoming. 

"Factors such as acceptance by local landowners and co-existence with prairie dogs are key considerations in the viability of black-footed ferret conservation efforts," the judge wrote, "and the statute does not require the FWS to ignore such realities in its attempts to successfully reintroduce the species."

Black-footed ferret reintroduction efforts in the Meeteetse area and Shirley Basin have experienced mixed success, largely because of disease outbreaks that have knocked down prairie dog populations and directly killed ferrets. Both sylvatic plague and canine distemper are "important diseases" for ferret populations, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's State Wildlife Action Plan. 

That plan states that Game and Fish will continue to engage with the national Black-footed Ferret Recovery Implementation Team and in-state Wyoming Black-footed Ferret Working Group. 

"Through this collaborative process, WGFD will work to locate and evaluate additional reintroduction sites throughout the state," Wyoming's plan for black-footed ferrets reads. 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials were unable to be reached for an interview early Monday. 

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department was "pleased" to see Moss' ruling, according to an emailed statement. The litigation was a "waste of staff time and resources that could be better spent," the emailed statement said. 

"It is good to see Judge Moss did not entertain the politically motivated argument that the Wild Earth Guardians proposed," Game and Fish spokeswoman Breanna Ball wrote. "We will continue to work closely with USFWS and private landowners in our black-footed ferret recovery."

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