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There's a picture accompanying this column of a furry, little creature. Some people might go so far as to call the critter "cute." But this small animal is creating big problems along golf courses and areas planned for development by Cedar City, Iron County and the Paiute Tribe of Utah. And thanks to an 11th-hour salvo by an environmental group, those three entities are nearly powerless to do anything about the creatures for at least a year. Those creatures are prairie dogs, and they love to dig. In fact, they have created numerous holes in the Cedar City golf course, creating a cost to taxpayers to repair the damage. Their presence - and the fact that they are considered to be a threatened species - are restricting land use for the Paiute. And the small animals are known to carry some diseases that threaten public health.The plan to resolve the issue seemed so simple. Just move the animals to another area with a suitable habitat. True, not all of them would survive the transplantation, but the majority would. Southern Utah already has seen some success with this kind of plan through the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve in Washington County, which serves as a relocation home for the desert tortoise. But, as with almost all good plans these days involving plants or animals, extremist environmental groups got involved at the last minute. And, has become somewhat of a custom in Southern Utah, the group stepping in on the critters' behalf have no real tie to the impacted area. This time around, a New Mexico-based group known as the Forest Guardians have stepped in on the prairie dogs' behalf and filed comments challenging the relocation program. Nothing can be done now until the issue is resolved, which won't happen until after the trapping season ends in August. So, Cedar City and the Paiutes have to deal with prairie dogs for another year. Maybe this group truly believes in what it is doing. After all, it does have a prairie dog on its Web site wearing an Uncle Sam hat and extending its little paw while saying "I want you to be an Endangered Species Act guardian." But, like the extremist, pillage-the-land crowd far on the other side of the national environmental debate, this group's tactics are shameful. Why wait until the last possible minute to file comments? Clearly, it's a tactic meant to inflict a painful headache on the impacted areas. And, why should a group out of New Mexico be able to hold up a plan in Utah - a plan that apparently received no serious outrage from environmental groups who know more about the area? We learned a serious lesson a few years ago when environmental extremists put the bark beetle above the interests of people. As a result, Cedar Mountain is one lightning strike away from being a full-fledged disaster thanks to the dead trees left behind by the beetle. Extreme views on either side do nothing to resolve issues. The prairie dogs shouldn't be eliminated, but they should be moved. That's what is best for people - who are, the environmental groups might need to be reminded, part of the ecosystem, too. Contact Editor Todd Seifert at 674-6235, or via e-mail at tseifert@thespectrum.com.
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