« All Events

Deadline to Comment on the draft “North American River Otter Action Plan, 2025-2029.”

May 23 @ 10:50 am - 10:59 pm

South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) is seeking comments on the draft “North American River Otter Action Plan, 2025-2029.”

The River Otter Action Plan, 2025-2029, is a document that will be used by GFP to guide river otter management in South Dakota through identified management objectives and strategies to meet those management objectives.

The draft river otter action plan can be found here.

Individuals interested in river otter management in South Dakota may provide suggestions and comments on the revised action plan by May 23, 2025. Written comments must be received by the deadline and include your full name and city of residence. Comments can be sent to 523 E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, S.D. 57501, or submitted online.

Normally SDGFP sets the deadline as midnight CT.

You will also be able to comment to the Commission for the June 5th Commission meeting.  See our notice of June  5th-6th meeting.  The Commission will adopt the Plan at their June meeting. The Commission meetings are hybrid and you can comment remotely by Zoom or in person for 3 minutes  at the Open Forum , at about 2 pm in the time zone of the  meeting on Thursday afternoons.  You can send written comments by Sunday June 1st before midnight CT.

TALKING POINTS
Otters occur in SD East River and at mouths of tributaries to the Missouri River on the west side of the River.  However the otters don’t make it to the far west perennial streams/rivers of SD, as there is a dearth of riparian habitat in good condition and dependable water in rivers between the Missouri and further west streams
Prairie Hills Audubon Society supports the reintroduction of river otters to western SD, which was not planned in earlier river otter management plans and is still not planned.
Between the Missouri River and the Black Hills the SDGFP must have a habitat protection/enhancement program to create healthy riparian habitat along the Cheyenne and Belle Fourche Rivers. It should have a program to encourage beaver dam analogs being built along tributaries to those rivers. Otters are strongly associated with beaver and the beaver dams create habitat and beaver dam analogs are imitation beaver dams.

Details

Date:
May 23
Time:
10:50 am - 10:59 pm