March 19, 2024

Working Dogs for Conservation return to the Neal Smith

Back for a fourth year, canines and their handlers from Working Dogs for Conservation (WD4C), Three Forks, Mont., a nonprofit group, will be working on the Refuge for about two weeks.

Three canines and their handlers will locate specific invasive plant species, primarily sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata). They will also be locating a native prairie plant: the whorled milkweed. The milkweed is small and hard to find, but it’s an integral part of the Monarch butterfly lifecycle. It is estimated that over the past 15 years, Monarch populations have dropped by 97 percent. The Fish and Wildlife Service is working to identify the extent of the milkweed’s presence on the refuge to learn more about how different milkweed species support the well-known butterfly.

On May 30 at 11 a.m., Aimee Hurt with WD4C will be giving a demonstration of the use of dogs for conservation. The demonstration will take place at the Visitor Center of Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, 9981 Pacific Street, Prairie City. The dogs use their noses to smell out a particular scent after a period of training with that particular odor. The press and interested observers are welcome to observe.

After training, they will get to work at the Refuge. The three dogs working on the refuge this year are Wicket, Lily and Busco. Karen Viste-Sparkman, Refuge Biologist and Project Coordinator, reported that the dogs have been used with great success. Previous work at the refuge established that dogs can locate target species at distances of up to 20 meters. They are more efficient than humans, covering large areas in less time, and discovering plants so small that they would be missed by trained biologists.

Karen said that “in the past, summer interns scouted the Refuge for invasive species. The dogs accelerate the process. The dogs can condense the work of five interns over an entire summer into a two week period. Their speed and accuracy is remarkable.”

Funding for this project comes from the Friends of Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, a non-profit group that works with the Refuge in staffing and funding projects. WD4C is donating part of the cost of the work. The Des Moines Founders Garden Club is providing housing for the biologists and dogs while they are working on the refuge.