Black-footed ferrets were recently introduced on a ranch in Pueblo County, Colo. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the black-footed ferret "is a highly specialized predator that depends upon prairie dogs for survival.

PUEBLO, Colo. — Black-footed ferrets were recently introduced on a ranch in Pueblo County, Colo. But the release of the endangered mammal was monumental for many different reasons — controlling an overpopulation of another animal and showing entities working together for the cause. The ferrets, which are one of North America's most endangered mammals, were reintroduced on the Walker Ranch in Pueblo County. The event was hosted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Gary and Georgia Walker. Since the late 1960s, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the black-footed ferret has been listed as endangered. It has been reintroduced in a few designated areas, including the Pueblo County area. But why in southeastern Colorado? To help with the prairie dog population. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the black-footed ferret "is a highly specialized predator that depends upon prairie dogs for survival. Prairie dogs make up more than 90 percent of the black-footed ferret's diet and prairie dog burrows provide ferrets with suitable dens to raise their young, as well as a means to escape from predators and harsh weather." And ranch owner Gary Walker has prairie dogs. "We went from 3,000 acres of prairie dogs to 10,000 acres of prairie dogs," Walker said. "And that's devastating to ranchers." Walker said they eat the grass "clear down to the earth and then start working on the roots. That's where all our tumbleweeds grow — prairie dog mounds," Walker said. It was through a matter of necessity that Walker decided to allow ferrets on his property. "We started shooting them," Walker said. "We would kill 500 to 600 in a day, but the animal population would recover. That's when we decided to employ the black-footed ferret." But possibly more important than controlling the prairie dog population, Walker said the reintroduction was an effort of many different entities working together for years to "make sure the right things were accomplished." Entities working together without "fear of reprisal." On Oct. 23, 2013, the Service issued a permit for the black-footed ferret (BFF) Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA), created in cooperation with state, tribal, federal, and local partners in 12 states. This SHA provides opportunities for private and tribal landowners to volunteer their lands as sites for reintroduction of this endangered species without affecting their land-use activities beyond mutually agreed-upon measures. It also extends these assurances to surrounding non-participating lands and other landowner interests via a Section 7 Biological Opinion (BO) for the SHA. This SHA approach will be an important step in promoting the recovery of this iconic species. "What happened on Walker Ranches is a the result of 'landmark legislation' and cooperation between state, federal and private entities," Walker said. "This isn't just about one endangered species, the black-footed ferret being released and hopefully saved on one ranch. This is about legislation and agreements that protect the landowner with hope that others will want to follow suit in an effort to help the balance of nature without fear of government actions. "Protection of the landowner from any liability that comes from the releasing of an endangered species proves that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife show a great deal of common sense in accomplishing what they were created to do — protect species and the environment without injury to the private landowner. This is a win-win situation for everyone, including the ferret," Walker said.