Officials with the US Fish and Wildlife Service have plenty of public comments to sort through following the final public hearing on a proposal to develop conservation easements in the Eastern Dakotas and a handful of Montana counties. Lloyd Jones, Refuge Manager of the Audubon National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota says the public hearings yielded good information for the Fish and Wildlife Service to examine….
[audio:http://prprt.itmwpb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/688/2010/12/grasslands1.mp3|titles=grasslands1]Support for the conservation easements came from a number of conservation and outdoor groups, like Pheasants Forever and the Issac Walton league. Opponents of the easements spoke out against the length of the agreements which Jones says was a common complaint…
[audio:http://prprt.itmwpb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/688/2010/12/grasslands2.mp3|titles=grasslands2]Funding for the 588 million dollar program would come from a well established fund…
[audio:http://prprt.itmwpb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/688/2010/12/grassland3.mp3|titles=grassland3]Jones says the plan could be put in play as soon as a year from now….
[audio:http://prprt.itmwpb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/688/2010/12/grasslands4.mp3|titles=grasslands4]About 50 people filled a room at the Crossroads Hotel in Huron from as far away as Pierre, Brookings and Sioux Falls.