South Dakota
Forest Service bans prairie dog hunting in part of SD’s Conata Basin to protect endangered ferrets • South Dakota Searchlight
The U.S. Forest Service published a final, permanent order Friday that prohibits prairie dog hunting in part of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland in southwestern South Dakota.
The order covers about 125 square miles of black-footed ferret reintroduction habitat in the Conata Basin, within the grassland’s Wall Ranger District in Jackson and Pennington counties. The ferrets also inhabit neighboring Badlands National Park.
The black-footed ferret is one of the most endangered mammals in North America and the only ferret species native to the continent. The ferrets prey on prairie dogs, which were decimated by disease in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
The Forest Service had been reissuing temporary bans on prairie dog hunting in the Conata Basin area every 30 days since 2018.
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The rest of the nearly 1,000-square-mile national grassland remains open to prairie dog hunters. The order does not affect other types of recreational shooting and does not impact shooting on private or state-owned land.
Permanently closing part of the Conata Basin to prairie dog hunting will “maintain quality ferret habitat with a sufficient food source (prairie dogs), prevent incidental take of the endangered black-footed ferret, and address the safety of agency and contractor personnel as they study and manage the ferrets,” the Forest Service wrote in its justification for the permanent order.
The same document noted that prairie dog hunting is “one of the top reasons that people contact the Wall Ranger District.”
“While prairie dog hunting can economically benefit outfitters and guides and other local businesses,” the document said, “frequent or intense hunting can affect prairie dog population size, behavior, and reproductive rates.”
South Dakota
Republican businessman Toby Doeden advances to primary runoff in South Dakota governor’s race
Republican businessman Toby Doeden has advanced to a runoff in South Dakota governor’s race, NBC News projects.
Gov. Larry Rhoden, who replaced Kristi Noem last year when President Donald Trump nominated her to lead the Department of Homeland Security, was battling with Rep. Dusty Johnson and former state House Speaker Jon Hansen for a second spot in the July 28 runoff. The primary will go to a runoff because no candidate eclipsed 35% of the vote.
Trump did not issue an endorsement in the race. Doeden branded himself on his campaign website as “a total political outsider who’s tired of the government’s failure to deliver on its promises” and one of Trump’s “fiercest supporters.”
Rhoden, a former lieutenant governor, agriculture secretary and lawmaker, campaigned on property tax cuts and lowering crime in his bid for a four-year term.
Johnson is the state’s lone representative in the House, where he previously was chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus. Hansen, who was elected to the South Dakota House in 2010, held several leadership positions before he became speaker.
The Republican nominee will be the favorite to win the general election in the solidly red state this fall. A Democrat has not served as governor in South Dakota since the 1970s, and Trump carried the state by 29 points in 2024.
News
Agronomist: eastern South Dakota crops hit and miss
An agronomist in eastern South Dakota says corn and soybeans are hit and miss as the growing season begins.
Steven Zemlicka with AgTegra Cooperative tells Brownfield, “We’ve got corn anywhere from V1 all the way up to V4. Biggest stuff’s maybe touching V5. Corn’s coming right along, looks pretty good. A little bit of hail here too, but I don’t think it’s going to be much of an issue. Stands for the most part are pretty good, pretty solid.”
Zemlicka says soybean emergence has been slow due to the wet, cool conditions, and there are a few fields that still need planted.
“People were still working on planting soybeans when we got the recent rain.”
He says recent rain totals ranged from a half inch to as much as four inches in the northeast part of South Dakota; the southern part of the state has been drier.
South Dakota’s corn is rated 61 percent good to excellent, with soybean conditions rated 57 percent good to excellent, according to USDA’s first condition ratings of the season.
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – The South Dakota Community Foundation is encouraging nonprofits to apply for funding this June.
Beth Massa and Ginger Niemann joined us live with what you need to know before applying.
Watch the full interview above.
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