Thunder Basin National Grasslands

The United States Forest Service (USFS) is set to release an amendment to the Thunder Basin National Grassland management plan. There are five proposed alternatives to amend black-tailed prairie dog management on the grassland-a highly controversial subject for local landowners and wildlife advocates.

The accepted amendment will change a previous amendment from 2015.

The U.S. Forest Service has released the draft environmental impact statement for amending the Thunder Basin National Grassland's management plan.

The U.S. Forest Service released a proposed plan to amend the Thunder Basin National Grasslands management of prairie dogs, but some wildlife groups are unhappy with the result, even after years of stakeholder collaborations.

Russ Bacon is the Forest Supervisor for the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest and the Thunder Basin National Grasslands. He said the species’ population exploded a couple years back, making it impossible to keep them on the 18,000 acres.