Top of the Pines board asks county to allow localized prairie-dog management; commissioners request contractor work plan before decision

At a work session on March 18 the Top of the Pines homeowners association presented a management recommendation informed by a biological review and urged a limited, targeted approach to reduce prairie-dog activity in an approximately four-acre area near the event and picnic zone.

Brad Wallace, speaking for the Top of the Pines board, said the associationseeks mitigation, not eradication, and proposed CO2 cartridge applications performed by a professional operator in fall months to move prairie dogs away from high-use public areas. The association also proposed educational materials and volunteer-led monitoring and asked the county to authorize the work on county-managed lands at top. The report from wildlife biologist Steve Boyle (provided to the board) recommended pre-treatment surveys for burrowing owls and other sensitive species, procedures for sealing burrow openings during treatment, plugging and re-seeding of treated mounds with native seed, and frequent post-treatment monitoring to detect re-colonization.

Commissioners and the public asked about nonlethal options such as visual barriers (hay bales or temporary screens), monitoring protocols, triggers that would determine when lethal or exclusionary measures are used, and protections for other wildlife. Several public commenters advocated for nonlethal measures and for using the site as a living outdoor classroom. Commissioners asked Top of the Pines to return with a specific, written statement of work that would be used to solicit a professional contractor and to include pre- and post-treatment survey methods, plans to avoid impacts on burrowing owls or other sensitive species and a public-notice plan. Top of the Pines agreed to provide the written plan; the county did not authorize any treatment at the meeting.