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was found near Meeteetse, Wyo.
• Through a captive breeding program, wildlife official began reintroducing ferrets. In the years since, almost 4,000 ferrets have been released at 21 sites in eight states. Some of those populations disappeared after plague wiped out nearby prairie dog colonies.
• Similar mixed results are expected in the future, as periodic outbreaks of plague wipe out prairie dog colonies in new ferrets reintroduction areas.
• But with continued hands-on management, Gober described the ferrets' future as akin to lights on a Christmas tree: As some populations blink out, reintroductions elsewhere will provide new "lights" to keep the species from again descending toward extinction.
• Costs for the recovery plan are estimated at more than $50 million during the next decade. Gober said that figure was speculative and could change.
• Maintaining the prairie dog colonies also would help other species that depend on them, including golden eagles and swift foxes, Gober said.
• Eastern Montana rancher Lesley Robinson has her doubts. Robinson is a county commissioner in Phillips County, the site of a 2001 ferret reintroduction that failed to take hold.
• She questioned the amount of money being spent on the program, and said many ranchers in her area remain wary of a program they worry could limit their ability to control prairie dog colonies.
• "I don't think ranchers are against black-footed ferrets; it's everything that goes with the process," Robinson said.
• But Lauri Hanauska-Brown with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said the federal government's plan offers a "new way of thinking about ferret recovery" and promises much-needed flexibility.
• That includes a recently adopted "safe harbor" program that assures landowners and tribes who voluntarily agree to have ferrets reintroduced that they won't face penalties if one of the animals is accidentally killed.
•

• RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -- More than 100 South Dakota Army National Guard members are home for the holidays.
• The 124 soldiers with the 235th Military Police Company were welcomed home Monday in Rapid City after a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan.
• Family and friends packed the Rapid City Rushmore Plaza Civic Center for a ceremony that included speeches by the governor, Rapid City mayor and adjutant

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