Thousands of nest predators killed in first month of South Dakota's bounty program

Minnehaha County's raccoon population has decreased by 521 in the past month due to a bounty on the animal.

South Dakota's new nest predator bounty program is proving popular in Minnehaha County, which has remained the No. 1 county for nest predator tails turned in for the $10-per-tail bounty since it began, according to the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department. More than 700 nest predators —  raccoons, striped skunks, opossums, badgers and red foxes — were harvested in Minnehaha County in the bounty program's first month.

The number of people who have submitted tails to the GFP Department across the state has increased throughout the first month of the bounty program, which was part of Gov. Kristi Noem's Second Century Initiative to boost pheasant hunting in the state. Statewide, nearly 10,000 nest predators have been harvested in the bounty program as of Thursday afternoon.

The state began offering the bounty on April 1. It will be paid to only South Dakota residents for animal tails trapped and harvested in the state until Aug. 31, or until the cap of $500,000 is reached, whichever occurs first. Each household can receive a maximum of $590 for tails. The GFP Department has also created a website where the bounty program's statistics can be viewed in real time.

State officials have said that although the goal is to boost the pheasant and duck populations in the state for hunting purposes, the measure of the bounty program's success will be families getting outside and "ensuring South Dakota's outdoor hunting heritage and trapping heritage remain strong for the next 100 years," GFP Deputy Secretary Kevin Robling told the GFP Commission on Thursday.

"It's amazing to hear some of those success stories of folks that are getting their kids out trapping and how excited those kids get when they have an animal in the trap," he said.

However, the rule regulating the bounty program is still under review. The bounty program began before the GFP Commission held a public hearing on it in April, in which residents and sportsmen's clubs raised questions about its effectiveness and impact on the state's ecosystem. The GFP Commission then unanimously approved the administrative rule with little discussion. The legislative Rules Review Committee is scheduled to take up the bounty program rule during its meeting on Monday morning.

More:South Dakota begins predator bounty program to boost pheasant hunting despite opposition, questions

Although it's been in effect for more than a month now, the bounty program continues to spark controversy. The GFP Commission continued to receive public comments after its April meeting requesting that the state end the program, with some residents questioning whether data supports it's purpose or arguing that trapping is inhumane. GFP has also publicized the trapping classes and bounty programs on its Facebook page, posting photos of kids out trapping and a video showing how to cut the tail off, each one drawing hundreds of comments supporting or opposing the program. 

Tails for the bounty

Raccoons have been the most popular to harvest at 72 percent of the nearly 10,000 tails submitted to the state. 

The harvesting of nest predators has been widespread across the state and all GFP offices have had tails turned into the office, but East River counties have had more tails because of "higher numbers of these nest predators on the landscape," Robling said. The "hot spots" for turning in tails has been the Huron, Watertown and Sioux Falls drop-off locations, he said.

Minnehaha County has outpaced the rest of the counties with 701 predators harvested as of noon Thursday. Nearly three-quarters of those tails were raccoon, followed by striped skunk at 13.6 percent and opossum at nearly 12 percent. Only one badger tail has been harvested and no red fox tails have been harvested in Minnehaha County, according to GFP.

Rounding out the top 10 list of counties with the most tails turned in on Thursday afternoon were Beadle at 511 tails, Lake at 481, Brookings at 471, Dueul at 452, Turner and Clark tied at 432, Grant at 411, and Day and Yankton tied at 398, according to GFP.

More:Legislature bends to Gov. Kristi Noem's habitat bill changes after closed-door meetings

Second Century Initiative 

The bounty program is one of several programs that are underway as part of Noem's Second Century Initiative.

The state gave away 16,000 free live traps in a 10-hour period in March, which is expected to cost the state about $900,000. In addition to adding more information about trapping to the GFP website, the department has held 13 trapping education classes across the state. More classes are planned for Sioux Falls and Rapid City due to their popularity, Robling said. 

"A lot of interest around trapping right now, a lot of interest around getting families outdoors, getting youth involved, it's a pretty neat deal," Robling said.

The state is also set to begin the Second Century Habitat Fund with $1 million in state funding in June. The GFP Department is in the process of transitioning its South Dakota Habitat Conservation Foundation to the new habitat fund, Robling said. There will be some new foundation board members, as well as bylaws and articles of incorporation, he said.

The state is expected to raffle off 10 big game licenses — three packages containing three licenses each and a Custer State Park bison license — as a "Hunt for Habitat" fundraiser. Applications for the raffle will open on July 1, Robling said.

The GFP Department received 750 emails and more than 300 people joined its Facebook page when it crowdsourced for habitat solutions in April, Robling said. The top ideas will be presented to Noem by the beginning of July and her selected ideas will be announced in August.