Meeting will discuss ferret reintroduction Nov.
21, 2006 The open house also will provide the opportunity for Logan County residents to comment on the plan. The open house will be from 1 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at the Logan County 4-H Building in Oakley. ”There’s going to be some pretty interesting things,” said Dan Mulhearn, a wildlife biologist with the federal wildlife agency. Audubon of Kansas, Kansas State University and the Smithsonian Institution will have displays. The Hutchinson and Garden City zoos also are expected to show up. It's the Hutchinson zoo that could steal the show. Its black-footed ferret has died, and it is receiving a new one from Wyoming. ”The ferret is going to shortstop in Oakley for a few hours,” Mulhearn said. The goal is to offer information. ”We want to provide information to the local residents on what we'd like to do,” Mulhearn said of the reason for the meeting. He said no final decision had been made on whether to reintroduce the ferrets and that an environmental impact statement is being prepared by the agency. Limited copies will be on hand in Oakley, or it will be available online at mountainprairie.fws.gov/species/mammals/blackfootedferret. The effort to reintroduce the ferrets has been slowed because of sentiment by many farmers and ranchers against prairie dogs, which are the main source of food for ferrets. Logan County has been waging an active war against prairie dogs and just this weekend started poisoning land that at the heart of the reintroduction program. |