Management of Prairie Dog Populations in Wind Cave National Park

—Since the late 1920's there have been periodic control programs on black-tailed prairie dogs in Wind Cave National Park. The most recent control effort, which began in 1982, resulted in the reduction of total dogtown acreage from 2,000 to 750 acres. Recent studies carried out within the park have provided managers with more soundly based justification for carrying out control programs. The same information also points to the importance of maintaining prairie dog populations at or above certain minimum levels and the need for integrating this control program with several of the other resource management programs being carried out in the area.