Today, the Conservancy’s Matador Ranch and the surrounding prairie of southern Phillips County are a focal point for ferret/prairie dog recovery efforts. Plans call for the release November 9, 2001 of 20 young ferrets from a captive breeding facility onto Bureau of Land Management land leased by the Matador Ranch.

"We’re very excited to be part of a team that’s made a huge commitment to get this work done," says Linda Poole, the Conservancy’s Matador Ranch manager.

Poole has been working with the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and a variety of other people on the recovery effort.

"This whole effort is a balancing act involving meeting the needs of endangered species, local communities, regulatory agencies, local ranchers, environmentalists, and recreationists. It’s a complex challenge, but we’re making strikes in the right direction," says Poole.

Ongoing ferret reintroductions at the UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge and the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation have led the Fish and Wildlife Service to search for linkage sites to help establish a viable population. The BLM’s "40 Complex" was selected because prairie dog numbers have grown there in the last few years, and it’s currently one of the largest prairie dog complexes in the area.

"The 40 Complex is in the best condition I have ever seen," says Michael Lockhart, the Fish and Wildlife Service’s black-footed ferret recovery coordinator based in Laramie, Wyoming.

But that optimism is tempered by the reality of disease. Sylvatic plague, known as bubonic plague in humans, seriously eroded prairie dog numbers in the early 1990s. The plague wiped out two prairie dog towns about two miles north of the 40 Complex earlier this summer.

So, the reintroduction team – led by the Malta office of the BLM – is taking strong measures to control the disease. Over a dozen BLM, FWS and Conservancy staff – including Paul Korte of the Conservancy’s Matador Ranch – have been dusting prairie dog towns with an insecticide to control fleas that may carry sylvatic plague.

Other measures are also needed to increase the ferrets’ survival chances. Electric fence will be installed around the release site to deter coyotes and badgers from preying on the young ferrets.

"Now we just have to get them out there and see what happens," says Randy Matchett of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who is assisting in the release.

After the release, Matchett, BLM’s John Grensten, the Conservancy’s Korte, and others will monitor the release site to ensure the best chance of ferret survival.

This reintroduction effort is just one piece of an overall effort to improve prairie dog and ferret populations in south Phillips County.

"Getting ferrets back on the ground in the 40 Complex is a major step to achieving the goals of the ferret recovery plan developed by the Montana Black-footed Ferret Working Group," says Poole.

While the Montana Black-footed Ferret and Blacktailed Prairie Dog Working Groups are working on regional plans for management of these species, Poole is developing a parallel management plan for the Matador that will dovetail with the larger plans. The prairie dog/ferret blueprint for the Matador will incorporate expertise and support from the Turner Endangered Species Fund, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and universities.

"For us, it’ll be a great feeling to know that ferrets will once again be free to roam the Matador Ranch," says Poole.

Equally as exciting is that bird species that use prairie dog habitat – long-billed curlews, mountain plovers, burrowing owls, and other prairie birds – will benefit from a functioning prairie ecosystem with a healthy predator-prey system.