skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

S.Dak. Endangered Species Day Celebration Targets Mountain Lions

play audio
Play

Friday, May 16, 2008   

Rapid City, SD – The Oglala Sioux Tribe is making a study of mountain lions an environmental priority, now that the Black Hills Mountain Lion Foundation reports evidence that a breeding population may exist on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation.

Trudy Ecoffey, a senior wildlife biologist with the Oglala Parks and Recreation Authority, says the mountain lion is the only large predator on the reservation, and her group wants to know whether the animals are just visiting, or there to stay.

"They are a key part of our ecosystem. Plus, it's an educational opportunity to show tribal members they need not be afraid of the mountain lion, that living in mountain lion country is a good thing. We hope to reduce any kind of human and mountain lion interaction, if at all possible, through education."

Jim Margadant, with the South Dakota Sierra Club, says his group and a number of other conservation organizations from around the state and nation are contributing almost $6,000 to keep study crews in the field another year. He says today's Endangered Species Celebration Day observance is a perfect time to raise state awareness about the need to ensure that all wildlife, including mountain lions, has large areas of stress-free habitat.

"We got going on the project because of the huge contiguous acreage of wildlife habitat involved here. Those type of areas are unique. And, a large predator population, a stable population, is healthy and maintains those habitat areas in better shape than an area without natural predators."

Margadant says failure to monitor and manage the mountain lions could lead to the animals' disappearance. The new funding will allow more time to study the animals in seven different reservation areas, using safe-snaring techniques, camera trapping and DNA sampling.

Conservation groups helping with the funding are the South Dakota Chapter of the Sierra club, The Sierra Club’s National Wildlife and Endangered Species Committee, the Rapid City Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, the Black Hills Mountain Lion Foundation, Prairie Hills Audubon Society and Tom Huhnerkoch, DVM.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Social Issues

play sound

This year's high school graduates will be eligible for 14,000 new scholarships offered through Opportunity Next Colorado, a $21 million investment …

The new law will apply only to future sales of Indiana farmland. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

Environment

play sound

Traffic deaths are trending higher in Minnesota this year after a decline the previous year. Groups pushing for safer roads are convinced a small …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021