BlackTailedPrairieDog_ESAListing_Watson_Lynda_LubbockTX_4February2022_Reel4094.mp3

Lynda Watson [00:00:00] The thing that will surprise a lot of people, and it scares the hell out of me, is every time U.S. Fish and Wildlife starts screaming that they're going to put prairie dogs on the endangered species list, millions of them get killed.

Lynda Watson [00:00:18] Because this rancher, who really never has paid much attention to the fact that he's got 60 acres of prairie dogs, OK? That's fine. No problem.

Lynda Watson [00:00:30] "Oh yeah, but Fred, what about the Endangered Species Act? My God, you won't be able to graze cattle. You won't be able to control the population. Why, it'll ruin your ranch!"

Lynda Watson [00:00:43] So they quickly go out, buy poison, hire somebody, do anything they can to kill every last prairie dog on their ranch before they get declared endangered.

Lynda Watson [00:00:57] And it's, it's a problem. I have seen more prairie dogs killed the year before they decide whether or not to list them as threatened or endangered species.

Lynda Watson [00:01:11] Most of the time, you know, many, many ranchers, they don't care that there's some prairie dogs out there.

Lynda Watson [00:01:18] But if you tell a man that he's not going to be allowed to make decisions on what's going on on his ranch, well, the thing to do is kill them all quickly before anybody knows.

Lynda Watson [00:01:31] And that's heartbreaking.

Lynda Watson [00:01:35] You know, I mean, the whole idea here is, gosh, if we could just get the very last prairie dog on the planet dead before they were declared endangered, man, that's what we need to do.

Lynda Watson [00:01:48] I mean, we successfully did that with the wolves. I mean, we had to get wolves from Canada, because we managed to kill every one in the United States.

Lynda Watson [00:02:02] The Endangered Species Act is a great idea, but it hasn't been thought through, or perhaps the landowners haven't been educated.

Lynda Watson [00:02:11] I'm, I'm not sure. I mean, that's not my ... That's, that's just me out in the field observing.

Lynda Watson [00:02:17] But it's, especially here in Texas, you, you don't tell the landowner what he can or can't do on his land, or he's going to get radical on you.