Thunder Basin National Grassland

The Thunder Basin National Grassland spans 875 square miles in northeastern Wyoming's Powder River Basin between the Big Horn Mountains and the Black Hills. The semi-arid grassland ranges from 3,600 to 5,200 feet elevation, and provides recreation opportunities such as hiking, sightseeing, hunting, and fishing, as well as year-round wildlife habitat, livestock forage, and mineral resources including some of the nation's largest coal mines. Intermingled federal, state, and private lands create management complexities in the grassland.

Collaboration in the Grassland

Please visit the U.S. Forest Service's Thunder Basin Prairie Dog Management webpage for the most current information. 

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In early 2015, the U.S. Forest Service approached the Ruckelshaus Institute to ask for assistance exploring stakeholder perspectives regarding prairie dog issues and the possibility for engaging in a collaborative process on the Thunder Basin National Grassland (view the USFS press release).

The situation assessment revealed that stakeholders desired a collaborative process to address management questions in the grassland (view the 2015 situation assessment).

In spring of 2016, the Ruckelshaus Institute convened three collaborative learning workshops on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service (view the 2016 workshop notes and materials). The workshops brought together the people who live in or have a direct interest in the Thunder Basin National Grassland for discussions about the past, present, and future of the grasslands (view the 2016 workshop final report). 

In 2017, the Ruckelshaus Institute convened another set of workshops on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service (view the 2017 workshop notes and materials). These workshops were open to the public and were meant to allow all stakeholders to continue learning about prairie dog colony management in the grasslands. The results of these workshops informed the simultaneously convened Cooperative Working Group (details below), which consisted of government entities with authority relating to prairie dog management (view the 2017 workshop and working group collaboration report). 

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Cooperative Working Group

The Supervisor of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland is the convener of a Cooperative Working Group for the Thunder Basin National Grassland. The Cooperative Working Group is a discretionary group, comprised of state, local, federal, and tribal governments, which provides a collaborative venue for sharing information about issues affecting land and resource management in and around the TBNG.

The primary purposes of the Cooperative Working Group are to:

1. Facilitate meaningful communications and interactions between governments to address specific topics of interest;
2. Strengthen relations between governments that have authority and interest in matters involving lands and resources in and adjacent to the TBNG;
3. Foster an atmosphere of cooperation, trust, creativity, and group unity; and
4. Facilitate relations between participants and government entities.

The Cooperative Working Group is an information gathering process, a forum for the free flow of information, and an opportunity to learn about plans, procedures, goals, and objectives of the Forest Service and other governments and agencies represented. In a case-by-case basis, the group may inform management activities and inform the general type, location, and sequence of management activities within administrative and cooperative action areas, engage and inform or promote collaborative efforts, or be used solely as an information gathering process. 

The 2017 Thunder Basin National Grassland Collaboration Report from the Ruckelshaus Institute is now available.

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Meetings

Meeting 1 February 27, 2017, Douglas, Wyoming

• Agenda
• Meeting notes
• Collaboration presentation
• Interests
• Issues

Meeting 2 April 13, 2017, Weston County Senior Center, Newcastle, Wyoming, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• Forest Service press release about meeting
• Agenda
• Presentation: How it works—Douglas Ranger District Staff, Budgets, Projects, etc.
• Presentation: Thunder Basin National Grassland Land and Resource Management Plan Overview
• Prairie dog control maps
  • Campbell County
  • Converse County
  • Weston County
• Meeting notes

Meeting 3 June 7, 2017, Campbell County Fire Department Training Center, 701 Larch St, Gillette, Wyoming, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• Forest Service press release about the meeting
• Agenda
• Meeting notes
• Working Group Presentation
• Prairie Dog Management Presentation

Meeting 4 Sept 7, 2017, Converse County Library, 300 E Walnut St, Douglas, Wyoming, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• Forest Service press release about the meeting
• Agenda
• Meeting notes
• Thunder Basin Prairie Ecosystem Association Presentation
• Non-Lethal Pilot Project with Restoration at M Creek Presentation
• Harshbarger Presentation

Meeting 5 October 11, 2017, Newcastle, Wyoming

• Meeting notes
• Map: 2015-17 Maximum Prairie Dog Extent (DRAFT)
• USFS Accomplishments, June 2016-Oct 2017
• Evaluation comments

Meeting 6 December 7, 2017, County Fire Training Center, 701 Larch St, Gillette, Wyoming

• Forest Service press release about the meeting
• Agenda
• Meeting notes
• USFS prairie dog update
• Casper Star-Tribune article
• Update on options
• Resolution on options
• Implementation table
• Final report

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Documents

• TBNG Cooperative Working Group Draft Charter, v. 2
• TBNG Cooperative Working Group Draft Process, v. 4
• Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Conservation Assessment and Management Strategy, 2015
• Range-Wide Monitoring of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs in the United States, 2015
• Information from Brad Rogers, US Fish and Wildlife Service, regarding lead and non-lead bullets
  • "Recreational Shooting of Prairie Dogs: A Portal for Lead Entering Wildlife Food Chains," Jonathan Pauli and Steven Buskirk, Journal of Wildlife Management, 2007
  • "Bullet Fragments in Deer Remains: Implications for Lead Exposure in Scavengers," Grainger Hunt, William Burnham, Chris Parish, Kurt Burnham, Brian Mutch, and Lindsay Oakes, The Peregrine Fund, 2009
  • "Performance of Lead-Free versus Lead-Based Hunting Ammunition in Ballistic Soap," Felix Gremse, Oliver Krone, Mirko Thamm, Fabian Kiessling, René Hany Tolba, Siegfried Rieger, and Carl Gremse, PLOS One, 2014

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Resources for Landowners

• Farm Service Agency Emergency Disaster Designation and Declaration Process Fact Sheet
• Farm Service Agency Emergency Disaster Designation and Declaration Process in Federal Register
• USDA Pasture, Rangeland, Forage Pilot Insurance Program Fact Sheet
• Farm Service Agency Livestock Forage Disaster Program Fact Sheet
• Farm Service Agency Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program for 2015 and Subsequent Years
• Farm Service Agency Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program
• NAP (Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program) Cause of Loss Information

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Members

Primary	Alternate	Organization	Level
Matt Avery	Rusty Bell	Campbell County Commission	County
Jennifer Hinkhouse	Jay Quintanilla	Campbell County Conservation District	County
Quade Schmelzle		Campbell County Weed and Pest	County
Tony Lehner	Rick Grant	Converse County Commission	County
Michelle Huntingon	Stan Mitchem	Converse County Conservation District	County
Cheryl Schwartzkopf	Jesse Butler	Converse County Weed and Pest	County
Raesha Sell	Sarah Anderson	Crook County Natural Resource District	County
Andrew Litzel		Crook County Weed and Pest	County
Patrick Wade		Niobrara County Commission	County
Matt Dockery	Lisa Shaw	Niobrara County Conservation District	County
Gail Mahnke		Niobrara County Weed and Pest	County
Marty Ertman	Tony Barton	Weston County Commission	County
Bill Lambert		Weston County Commission	County
Lacey Sloan	David Tysdal	Weston County Natural Resource District	County
Hale Redding		Weston County Weed and Pest	County
Michael Valle	Rick Miller	Bureau of Land Management	Federal
Clayton Schmitz	John Hartung	Natural Resources Conservation Service	Federal
Mike Foster	Paul Kokes	Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service	Federal
Brad Rogers	Tyler Abbott	US Fish and Widlife Service	Federal
Shane Walker	Dennis Jaeger	US Forest Service	Federal
Jessica Crowder	Matthew Fry	Governor's Office	State
Ben Bump	William Rose	Office of State Lands	State
Joe Budd	Chris Wichmann	State Department of Agriculture	State
Slade Franklin		State Weed and Pest	State
Amanda Withroder		Wyoming Game and Fish: Habitat	State
Zack Walker	Nichole Bjornlie	Wyoming Game and Fish: Non-game	State
Aaron Voos		USFS	Staff
Sandy Henning		USFS	Staff
Jessica Western		Ruckelshaus Institute	Staff
Victoria Zero		Ruckelshaus Institute	Staff