An official of the Defenders of Wildlife says conservation groups likely will challenge the U.S. Forest Service management plan for prairie dogs.

Jonathan Proctor, Rocky Mountain field representative for Defenders of Wildlife, says the question has become whether the Forest Service has gone too far.

About a decade ago, prairie dogs moved from federal land to private ranches during an extended drought.

The state and federal agencies have cooperated in recent years to poison prairie dogs on private land and in buffer areas in the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands to prevent the animals from spreading onto private ranches.

Proctor says his group thinks it makes no sense to poison prairie dogs in the midst of an effort to save them elsewhere. He says they should be trapped and moved to areas where they are wanted.