Black-footed Ferrets Friends

​The Black-footed Ferret Friends (BFFFriends) is an organization of private partners interested in the conservation of prairie wildlife. Members include representatives from the livestock industry, wildlife conservation community, and Native American Tribes with membership universally approved by all members.

Group members have a keen interest in supporting Black-footed Ferret (BFF) Recovery, in particular the proposed landowner incentive program.

Click image above to view the Black-footed Ferret Friends Brochure.

Members communicate/collaborate via conference calls and occasional one-on-one meetings and have the ability and willingness to meet with Federal/State agency heads and congressional delegations to promote key agency participation and funding, both locally and in Washington D.C.
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Group members also provide input on outreach and messaging to support the program and solicit funds from non-profits to cover any travel costs involved. Participation involves some personal expense from members.

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​Mission Statement
Promote an incentive based, voluntary black-footed ferret recovery program with measurable conservation goals through:
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1) Advocacy by promotion with agriculture/conservation organizations and federal/state agencies, and congressional lobbying efforts to secure targeted agency programs with adequate funding.
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2) Education using printed materials, website posts and presentations.
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This program includes support from State Wildlife Agencies providing landowner contacts, BFF reintroduction site identification and assessments, monitoring, and plague vaccine evaluations; U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service providing regulatory assurances, captive breeding and reintroduction assistance and measurable recovery goals; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service providing financial assistance to landowners willing to support minimum acres of prairie dog occupied grassland habitat; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services providing plague and prairie dog management assistance; U.S. Department of Interior, Geological Survey providing resources for developing and certifying a cost effective plague vaccine; in addition to other Federal and State Agencies providing financial cost share assistance.

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Message from John Emmerich, Black-footed Ferret Friends Chair

John Emmerich, Chair of Black-footed Ferret Friends, releases a captive-raised black-footed ferret as part of ongoing reintroduction efforts for this endangered species.

January 2023
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The black-footed ferret is truly the best example of an endangered species in North America. It was considered the rarest mammal in the world in 1987, when only 18 existed, and it was one of the first species to be listed in the 1960’s as endangered. In addition the habitat which supports black- footed ferrets and their primary food source, prairie dogs, has been reduced from over 100 million acres to less than 5 million acres across 12 states. Yet, despite the critical status of black-footed ferrets, recovery efforts have been underfunded since the species was first listed, especially when compared to conservation efforts for higher profile but much less imperiled species.

As the Blackfootedferret.org website explains, despite the lack of adequate funding, a dedicated core of partners working together have still managed to make meaningful progress toward improving chances of successfully recovering the black-footed ferret.
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In fact, most of the tools are now in place to recover the species, including the already tested and proven captive rearing and reintroduction methodologies currently in place. A comprehensive management plan designed to recover the black-footed ferret in the next ten years has been well vetted with all affected parties and is ready for full implementation. This program will provide grazing management support to landowners through financial assistance for the acres of prairie dogs maintained on private lands. In addition management assistance will be provided to landowners for controlling the effects of plague on prairie dogs, and boundary control to contain prairie dogs to conservation areas managed for black-footed ferrets. Finally but most importantly, regulatory assurances can be readily provided to participating landowners through currently available safe harbor and 10(J) agreements. The final challenge is the support and commitment to fully fund and implement the voluntary, landowner incentive based program (25 million per year or as low as $10 million per year if recent efforts to develop an effective yet less expensive way to control sylvatic plague are successful).

Through four years of direct experience with this program in Colorado and landowner contacts in multiple states, we know there is indeed sufficient support among landowners within most of the twelve states supporting prairie dogs, to make this approach work. Securing the needed funding to support a voluntary landowner incentive based management plan will be a critical milestone in the recovery efforts for the black footed ferret – a recovery story to rival all others to date.

The landowner incentive program would also help to secure the future of prairie dog community ecosystems in general. In addition to the black footed ferret, prairie dog communities support a multitude of other sensitive wildlife species, including swift fox, burrowing owls, mountain plover, ferruginous hawks, golden eagles to name a few. Protecting and supporting prairie dog communities as outlined in the current management plan will not only achieve a delisted status for black-footed ferrets it will prevent other sensitive species from being listed as endangered in the future.
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The Blackfootedferret.org website is a tremendous vehicle with which to inform the public of this truly unique conservation story and to, hopefully, raise public awareness. It is only through public awareness and action that key political and administrative champions can be motivated to action. With public input and political assistance, needed funding can be secured for the landowner incentive program. Doing so will recover the black footed ferret, a truly unique species of the North American short grass prairie, for generations to come.

Sincerely,
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John M. Emmerich, Chair
Black-footed Ferret Friends
8517 Pharmond Trail Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009