Farmers can blame it on Pres. George W. Bush if more pasture land resembles prairie dog ravaged moon-scapes as many South Dakota farms do now. That's because meddling into the endangered species list by the Bush administration, not known for protecting the environment, might have the unintended consequence of protecting that rancher's bane, the prairie dog.
In South Dakota, ranchers near the Badlands National Park say that prairie dogs protected there eat up all the parks grass, then chomp their way through pastures on nearby private land as well as pastures that ranchers rent from the federal government. That coupled with a drought has hurt area ranchers who are restricted on what they can do to combat the pests.