I am a volunteer for the Prairie Dog Relocation Group in Fort Collins and would like to reach out to you to reconsider poisoning prairie dogs on natural lands slated for development.

Prairie dogs are a keystone species that supports about 150 other animals and insects, and are part of what makes Colorado an attractive place to live. People move here for the prairies and mountains and we should maintain the natural ecosystems as much as possible so that we don’t change the face of what is naturally here. Concreting over and laying non-native grass lawns is not the answer.

Prairie dogs have been successfully moved — and survived — and have helped bring other wildlife back to natural areas.

Please reconsider your attitude toward our natural lands and wildlife, and set an example of how humans can live with the wildlife that has inhabited this area prior to pioneer expansion, and respect that prairie dogs are necessary to Colorado’s wildlife continuing to thrive. Destruction of habitat and mass poisonings are not the answer when a species has already been reduced to less than 2 percent of its population.

When developers go low, our representatives need to go high.

Natasha Wing

Fort Collins