104 



In order to fully comply with NEPA and the Endangered 

 Species Act, additional field work and evaluation of prairie 

 dog complexes for suitability of reintroduction must be 

 conducted on the Cheyenne River Reservation. Agreement 

 between the Tribe, USFWS and BIA must be developed for 

 management of other endangered or threatened species. A 

 socio-economic analysis of the effects which prairie dog 

 management alternatives have on reservation economics is 

 also necessary. The BIA has advised that approximately 

 $200,000 is available to the Tribes under a P.L. 93-638 

 contract to complete these requirements. The Cheyenne River 

 Sioux Tribe plans to comply with these requirements in 

 conjunction with the project. 



As a result of these factors, the BIA has determined 

 not to conduct poisoning control of prairie dogs on the 

 reservation, but has acknowledged that a lack of management 

 could lead to a further deterioration of the range resource 

 and a loss of economic benefits to the Tribe and individual 

 Indian cattle operators. The failure of the BIA to address 

 this problem could force the Tribe to litigate for breach of 

 trust responsibility because lack of management could lead 

 to a further degradation of the range resource. The 1980 

 lawsuit by the American Farm Bureau against the U.S. 

 Department of the Interior and BIA for failure to control 

 prairie dogs on the Pine Ridge Reservation and other federal 

 land holdings, for example, led to the provision of a multi- 

 million dollar appropriation in the mid-1980 's. 



It is the intent of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe to 

 resolve this "catch 22" situation through the "Prairie 

 Management Plan", which will at once permit compliance with 

 the Endangered Species Act and allow the federal government 

 to exercise its trust responsibility for management of 

 reservation lands. 



CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS 



The following series of events has precipitated the 

 current situation and development of the Cheyenne River 

 Sioux Tribal "Prairie Management Plan": 



196'<-79 Black-footed ferret populations discovered in South 



Dakota, near Rosebud reservation, populations captured 

 but die in captivity. Sightings recorded on Cheyenne 

 River Reservation 



1967 USFWS lists the black-footed ferret as endangered 



1980 American Farm Bureau Federation files suit in Federal 



court against federal agencies, including BIA, for 

 failure to control prairie dogs on Pine Ridge 

 Reservation, Badlands National Park and National 

 Grasslands 



