These "conservation groups" (liberal enviro-nutjobs) do not know ANYTHING about Prarie Dogs. Other than they are something else "cute" to cause trouble over. They know nothing of the ability of this animal to proliferate, adapt, and if left alone, would infest any country side with huge colonies of them...
No, just more liberal nutjobs looking for another stupid, unjustifed cause to create trouble with.
There goes my excuse for buying a 22-250 tack driver. Heck, I may buy it anyway and shoot paper prarie dog targets.
Interesting that the enviro-freaks are using the term 'conservationists' these days. In the past, the term was clearly connected to sportsmen/women, farmers and others with land-use connections. In fact, the environmentalists are entirely different critters. Maybe they find their usual monikers are winning them more enemies than friends?
I went on a prairie dog shoot/hunt a few years ago in s w Colorado and the enviro-wackos thought they would scare off the prairie dogs by blowing horns and rattling things and blowing whistles. They just made the critters pop up and look around-we had good shooting and the wackos went more wacko.
And decimate the surrounding grass. Prairie Dogs not only eat the above ground foliage, they eat the roots and destroy the plant.
Guilty admission: I think prairie dogs are cute, and I've heard they make neat (but somewhat needy) pets! I've never lived anywhere with a population of them, though.
(I'm not an environazi, though, I promise!)