DOUGLAS - More than 1,500 people have commented on a plan that would allow more flexibility in controlling prairie dogs, including some poisoning, on the Thunder Basin National Grassland.

They ranged from a desire to do away with the animals entirely to a passion for bringing them back in great numbers.

The plan proposes allowing some poisoning and other management tools to prevent unwanted colonization of prairie dogs onto private lands, while setting aside some private and public property for black-footed ferret reintroduction. Prairie dogs, which are the black-footed ferrets' primary food source, would be encouraged to thrive on that land.

Those comments helped form three alternative actions presented in a draft environmental impact statement, which will be published in the Federal Register in the next two weeks.

People can comment on the alternatives for 45 days after publication, said Misty Hays, deputy district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service's Douglas Ranger District.

The alternatives are:

* A "no action" alternative would leave things as they are, with prairie dog poisoning permitted on private lands and not on public lands.

* A "proposed action" alternative would create four categories of designation for prairie dogs on public and some private land. The categories are designed to foster strong prairie dog populations on lands identified for black-footed ferret reintroduction. Many of those areas transcend ownership boundaries. In prime ferret-reintroduction lands, prairie dogs would be encouraged to thrive. In non-critical areas, private landowners would have greater flexibility in managing the animals, including poisoning.

* A "boundary management" alternative is similar to a court-imposed plan affecting the Kanata Basin in South Dakota. The plan allows poisoning on federal lands within a half-mile of private property. This alternative is included because it set a precedent for prairie dog management, Hays said.

The second alternative is the preferred action for the Forest Service.

"We think it's a good alternative that meets the needs of providing for viable prairie dog populations and for black-footed ferret recovery, but it also addresses the concerns of the neighboring landowners," Hays said. "With intermingled lands, there is almost no management we can do without being able to work with those private landowners. What we do affects them."

In particular, she said, private landowners' support will be critical for a successful black-footed ferret reintroduction.

Hays said that while the boundary management technique is in place in the Kanata Basin, it would not work as well here due to the intermingled nature of the Thunder Basin National Grassland. Many of the largest Forest Service blocks do not have significant prairie dog populations.

"There basically would not be a viable population of prairie dogs" in the Thunder Basin under the third alternative, Hays said.

The alternatives amend the Thunder Basin grasslands management plan to allow private landowners greater flexibility in managing prairie dog populations. In return, the Forest Service gains cooperation from landowners who host critical prairie dog populations needed for a successful reintroduction of the endangered black-footed ferret.

Some of those landowners are part of the Thunder Basin Prairie Ecosystem Association, chaired by Betty Pellatz. She said the association spent nearly a year pounding out the category plan with the Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

"We are going to stay right with that," she said. "We just hope that the environmental community will realize that the ranchers are trying to preserve the prairie dog population as well."

Comments will be worked into a final environmental impact statement, which would be subject to another public comment period before being forwarded to Forest Supervisor Mary Peterson for a decision. Hays said a final decision could come as early as April or May 2008, but she anticipates any action could be further down the road.

"This is controversial enough there is the potential for it to be litigated," she said. "We've already seen a precedent set in the Kanata Basin. Groups that have an interest in prairie dogs are willing to spend their money to litigate. They've shown it's an important enough issue."

Also at play is the potential for Fish and Wildlife Service action on a recent petition to list the prairie dog as threatened or endangered.

"A decision for listing could definitely change how we go about this," Hays said.

Biodiversity Conservation Alliance of Laramie is one of the petitioners to list the black-tailed prairie dog.

"In our view it is perfectly reasonable to place the responsibility for poisoning or for controlling prairie dog dispersal onto private lands," said Erik Molvar, a wildlife biologist with Biodiversity. "Why should we be poisoning a Forest Service sensitive species on public land, at public expense?"

He added that recent outbreaks of sylvatic plague, a disease to which prairie dogs are particularly susceptible, has reduced numbers. Poisoning could seriously compound that population setback, which in turn could push the Fish and Wildlife Service to approve the petition to list the prairie dog, he suggested.

"All of this poisoning action certainly has to be noted by the Fish and Wildlife Service when they try to figure out if the prairie dog is secure," Molvar said. "We all have a mutual interest - conservationists, ranchers and everyone else - in trying to do everything we can to recover the prairie dog. It reduces the odds of an endangered species listing and all of the regulatory consequences that go along with it."