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New South Dakota law will allow ranchers to manage prairie dogs

Amanda Radke

During this year’s legislative assembly, legislators in the state of South Dakota including Representative Betty Olson, Brunner, Greenfield, Hoffman, Jensen, Kirkeby, Magstadt, Stace Nelson, Russell, Schrempp, Steele and Verchio, as well as Senator Maher, Bradford, Lederman, Rhoden and Sutton, introduced House Bill (HB) 1047, allowing for the hunting of prairie dogs year-round.

Currently, state law allows residents to shoot prairie dogs year-round, except on public lands, where the dogs are safeguarded from March 1 to June 14 during the prairie dog mating and pup season.

HB 1047 was introduced in order to revise prairie dog shooting provisions. Wording of the revisions were as follows:



“For an act entitled, an act to revise certain prairie dog shooting season provisions. Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of South Dakota:

“Section 1. That chapter 41-8 be amended by adding thereto a new section to read as follows: a prairie dog shooting season is open statewide year-round, with no limitation on shooting hours and no prairie dog daily or possession limits.”



Additionally, three sections were repealed as they pertained to old regulations on hunting including opening and closing dates, the public land clause and hunting method.

Proponents of the bill included many agriculture organizations including the South Dakota Stock Grower’s Association.

Midland, SD-rancher and South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association member Wacey Kirkpatrick was one of the supporters of the bill.

“I feel that the passage of HB 1047 is a win-win-win situation, for ranchers, for public land managers, and for the prairie dog population, also,” says Kirkpatrick. “On our ranch, we have prairie dogs, and while I’m not against having prairie dogs on my land, I feel they need to be managed. They are part of the ecosystem, and they help to keep our ecosystem in balance, to a degree. However, some of the natural predators of prairie dogs have been eliminated with the development of our state’s agriculture lands, and I feel this has caused a natural expansion in prairie dog populations in some cases, so it is our duty to manage them now.”

Kirkpatrick believes HB 1047 will allow hunters to help manage the prairie dog populations, which if left as is, quickly leave a wide path of holes and damage in pasture lands.

“By allowing hunters to hunt prairie dogs year-round on public land, this is a cheap and effective way to manage the prairie dog populations,” adds Kirkpatrick. “Passage of this bill allows a prairie dog management method that doesn’t cost the public lands managers money, and it doesn’t cost neighboring private land owners money should they allow prairie dog hunting on their land. Overall, I feel that passage of HB 1047 is a positive step in the right direction to successful management of South Dakota’s prairie dog populations.”

During this year’s legislative assembly, legislators in the state of South Dakota including Representative Betty Olson, Brunner, Greenfield, Hoffman, Jensen, Kirkeby, Magstadt, Stace Nelson, Russell, Schrempp, Steele and Verchio, as well as Senator Maher, Bradford, Lederman, Rhoden and Sutton, introduced House Bill (HB) 1047, allowing for the hunting of prairie dogs year-round.

Currently, state law allows residents to shoot prairie dogs year-round, except on public lands, where the dogs are safeguarded from March 1 to June 14 during the prairie dog mating and pup season.

HB 1047 was introduced in order to revise prairie dog shooting provisions. Wording of the revisions were as follows:

“For an act entitled, an act to revise certain prairie dog shooting season provisions. Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of South Dakota:

“Section 1. That chapter 41-8 be amended by adding thereto a new section to read as follows: a prairie dog shooting season is open statewide year-round, with no limitation on shooting hours and no prairie dog daily or possession limits.”

Additionally, three sections were repealed as they pertained to old regulations on hunting including opening and closing dates, the public land clause and hunting method.

Proponents of the bill included many agriculture organizations including the South Dakota Stock Grower’s Association.

Midland, SD-rancher and South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association member Wacey Kirkpatrick was one of the supporters of the bill.

“I feel that the passage of HB 1047 is a win-win-win situation, for ranchers, for public land managers, and for the prairie dog population, also,” says Kirkpatrick. “On our ranch, we have prairie dogs, and while I’m not against having prairie dogs on my land, I feel they need to be managed. They are part of the ecosystem, and they help to keep our ecosystem in balance, to a degree. However, some of the natural predators of prairie dogs have been eliminated with the development of our state’s agriculture lands, and I feel this has caused a natural expansion in prairie dog populations in some cases, so it is our duty to manage them now.”

Kirkpatrick believes HB 1047 will allow hunters to help manage the prairie dog populations, which if left as is, quickly leave a wide path of holes and damage in pasture lands.

“By allowing hunters to hunt prairie dogs year-round on public land, this is a cheap and effective way to manage the prairie dog populations,” adds Kirkpatrick. “Passage of this bill allows a prairie dog management method that doesn’t cost the public lands managers money, and it doesn’t cost neighboring private land owners money should they allow prairie dog hunting on their land. Overall, I feel that passage of HB 1047 is a positive step in the right direction to successful management of South Dakota’s prairie dog populations.”

During this year’s legislative assembly, legislators in the state of South Dakota including Representative Betty Olson, Brunner, Greenfield, Hoffman, Jensen, Kirkeby, Magstadt, Stace Nelson, Russell, Schrempp, Steele and Verchio, as well as Senator Maher, Bradford, Lederman, Rhoden and Sutton, introduced House Bill (HB) 1047, allowing for the hunting of prairie dogs year-round.

Currently, state law allows residents to shoot prairie dogs year-round, except on public lands, where the dogs are safeguarded from March 1 to June 14 during the prairie dog mating and pup season.

HB 1047 was introduced in order to revise prairie dog shooting provisions. Wording of the revisions were as follows:

“For an act entitled, an act to revise certain prairie dog shooting season provisions. Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of South Dakota:

“Section 1. That chapter 41-8 be amended by adding thereto a new section to read as follows: a prairie dog shooting season is open statewide year-round, with no limitation on shooting hours and no prairie dog daily or possession limits.”

Additionally, three sections were repealed as they pertained to old regulations on hunting including opening and closing dates, the public land clause and hunting method.

Proponents of the bill included many agriculture organizations including the South Dakota Stock Grower’s Association.

Midland, SD-rancher and South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association member Wacey Kirkpatrick was one of the supporters of the bill.

“I feel that the passage of HB 1047 is a win-win-win situation, for ranchers, for public land managers, and for the prairie dog population, also,” says Kirkpatrick. “On our ranch, we have prairie dogs, and while I’m not against having prairie dogs on my land, I feel they need to be managed. They are part of the ecosystem, and they help to keep our ecosystem in balance, to a degree. However, some of the natural predators of prairie dogs have been eliminated with the development of our state’s agriculture lands, and I feel this has caused a natural expansion in prairie dog populations in some cases, so it is our duty to manage them now.”

Kirkpatrick believes HB 1047 will allow hunters to help manage the prairie dog populations, which if left as is, quickly leave a wide path of holes and damage in pasture lands.

“By allowing hunters to hunt prairie dogs year-round on public land, this is a cheap and effective way to manage the prairie dog populations,” adds Kirkpatrick. “Passage of this bill allows a prairie dog management method that doesn’t cost the public lands managers money, and it doesn’t cost neighboring private land owners money should they allow prairie dog hunting on their land. Overall, I feel that passage of HB 1047 is a positive step in the right direction to successful management of South Dakota’s prairie dog populations.”