Bill would end county prairie dog management

The Agriculture Committee heard testimony Feb. 3 on a bill that would repeal the Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Management Act.

LB128, introduced by Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, would repeal the act, which was passed by the Legislature in 2012. Chambers said the management act does not take into account that prairie dogs are indigenous to Nebraska and an important part of the state’s ecosystem. Instead, he said, the act was modeled on noxious weed laws, which are designed to completely eradicate invasive species.

“So, when you use that as a model,” he said, “the mindset is that you are to exterminate all of these animals.”

In addition, he said, the Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Management Act allows counties to violate the rights of property owners who may want prairie dogs on their land, by authorizing the management of colonies based on complaints from neighboring land owners.

“No law, in my opinion, should be passed by the Legislature totally discounting the right of a person who owns property based on the complaint of a neighbor,” Chambers said.

John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, testified in support of the bill. The act that it would repeal leads to a “heavy-handed” approach to prairie dog management and puts a strain on counties and on relationships between neighbors, he said.

“We did not support this [act] when it was passed in the first place,” Hansen said, “for the very same reasons … that Sen. Chambers has already listed in his presentation.”

Robert Bernt, an organic farmer from Wheeler County, also testified in favor of the bill, saying there are ways to manage prairie dogs short of eradication. In addition, he said, a complaint by a neighbor that results in poisoning by the county could ruin business for an organic farmer.

“If poisons were found on our land, we’d lose our organic certification for at least three years,” Bernt said, which would result in a loss of $400,000 in income.

Larry Dix, representing the Nebraska Association of County Officials, testified in opposition to the bill. To date, he said, Sheridan is the only county to adopt the Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Management Act. Landowners there have worked cooperatively to stop problems before they reach the stage of county intervention, he said.

“Since Sheridan County put this in place … there’s not been one complaint,” Dix said. “It is working; it can work. I think Sheridan County has proved that.”

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.