Prairie Dog Resolution for the
City Of Lubbock, TX
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, on November 3, 1999 the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department signed onto a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”)
with eight other state wildlife agencies within the historic range
of the black-tailed prairie dog in order “to provide guidance for
conservation and management of the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys
ludovicianus) and the short to mid-grass habitats upon which the
species depends.”
WHEREAS, the primary purpose of the MOU was to implement
the Black-tailed Prairie Dog Conservation Assessment and Strategy
dated November 3, 1999.
WHEREAS, pursuant to the terms of the Conservation Assessment
and Strategy, the state of Texas agreed to establish a state working
group, and it is that working group that is convened today and considers
this Resolution.
WHEREAS, a recent controversy has arisen in the City
of Lubbock, involving the Lubbock Land Application Site (“LLAS”),
which is regulated by the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission
(“TNRCC”). Without scientific
documentation, the City and TNRCC have claimed that there has been
“explosive growth of the prairie dog population” at the LLAS and that
the presence of prairie dogs has either caused or contributed to an
increase in nitrates and/or other soil and groundwater contamination
at the LLAS.
WHEREAS, based on the foregoing claims of the City and
TNRCC, TNRCC issued a Notice of Violation to the City on June 3, 2002.
The City submitted a plan to TNRCC on August 20, 2002, whereby
it proposes to remove all prairie dogs from the LLAS, through either
relocation or lethal control.
WHEREAS, the LLAS is a publicly owned parcel of approximately
2,500 acres.
Based
on the foregoing recitals, the Black-tailed Prairie Dog Working Group
of the State of Texas adopts the following resolution.
1.
The Working Group resolves to recommend to the City and TNRCC
that they refrain from taking any action to remove or eradicate the
Black-tailed Prairie Dogs from the LLAS unless and until they have
developed sound scientific evidence that the prairie dogs are responsible
for any increases in nitrate levels or other pollution at the LLAS.
DATED
this ____ day of August, 2002.
TEXAS
BLACK-TAILED PRAIRIE DOG WORKING
GROUP
By___________________________
Its___________________________
Duly
adopted by the Working Group at its meeting held in Lubbock, Texas
on August 29, 2002.
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