One of the things I value the most about Westminster is the beautiful open spaces with the abundance of wildlife such as fox, coyotes, hawks and prairie dogs. My belief was that open spaces were funded by the taxpayers and managed by professionals to protect and preserve the land and wildlife within.

For seven years as I have enjoyed and treasured one specific prairie dog colony that was near my home. I would stop occasionally and watch them call to each other, feed their young and run in and out of their burrows. On a recent bike ride I looked for them, and the whole colony was eerily quiet. My first concern was maybe that they had gotten the plague as that had happened in other colonies in the area. I called one of the open space managers and asked them to please check it out. To my horror, though, I instead learned that the city had done a "control" sometime this summer. Control is another word for killing. The explanation was that there were too many prairie dogs and the vegetation was suffering. To make this even more alarming, I found out that hundreds more of these animals were "controlled" this summer in other open space areas in Westminster.

It is hard enough to see colonies in the urban areas decimated for development, but the open spaces are the last safe and natural area that prairie dogs and other wildlife can survive. What are the fox and hawks to do for their food sources this winter, let alone the survival of the prairie dogs themselves? They are a keystone species for all wildlife in the area. I already don't see the numbers of fox or hawks like I used to here.

I, like so many people, cherish what is left of our natural areas, and the open spaces should be protected in such a way to preserve what is there. I, for one, don't feel that killing hundreds of prairie dogs for the sake of vegetation management makes any sense. As a taxpayer, I am angry about how the open spaces in Westminster are being managed. More importantly, as a human being, I am distraught over what is being taken away or "controlled" in an area I thought was protected. Every day as I drive by the deadly quiet fields, I mourn for what was once a lively precious home for hundreds of innocent animals. I urge other animal lovers to contact your city officials to express their concerns.

Vicki Larson, Westminster, CO