A federal judge told lawyers that they should come to an
agreement by Tuesday over plans to start killing prairie dogs in
the Conata Basin. Conservation groups filed suit last month to
fight a government plan to poison and later shoot prairie dogs
in response to landowners' complaints that the animals overgraze
private land and reduce cattle forage. Jay Tutchton, a lawyer
for the conservation groups, estimated that the plan to poison
8,763 acres of federal land in South Dakota would kill tens of
thousands of prairie dogs and affect more than 100 other
species. Gretchen Ruethling (NYT)