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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Many southern Utah residents are worried that an appeals court ruling that returns power to the U.S. government to regulate and protect the Utah prairie dog will bring back an old set of problems.
A group of Cedar City residents sued in 2013, arguing that burrowing prairie dogs were damaging golf courses, cemeteries and airport runways as they overran parts of town. They said federal protections prevented them from getting rid of the rodents.
After a federal judge in Utah sided with them in a 2014, state implemented a new plan that increased trappings and removals and gave residents the option to seek permission to kill nuance prairie dogs.
State figures show that residents who didn't before have permission to kill the rodents before eliminated about 3,500 Utah prairie dogs in 2015-2016.
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