Vandalism taken to a new level on Boulder County Open Space

The Boulder County Sheriff's Office is trying to figure out who vandalized two Boulder County Open Space properties last week where an estimated $100,000 of damage was done to utility vehicles, trailers and prairie dog traps.

"I can't recall anything on any open space property to that level," said Carrie Haverfield, public information specialist for the Boulder County Sheriff's Office. "Unfortunately, we do see vandalism, but it's of the criminal mischief variety, graffiti, that sort of stuff. A lot lower in monetary value. That's a lot of damage and a big setback to our Open Space property.

Haverfield said in a news release that tires were slashed, wires and hoses cut, grass stuffed into gas tanks, shovels thrown into the pond and seats and seatbelts slashed at the 63rd and Oxford Road open space. Prairie dog traps were damaged on the Hillside Estates Property on the south side of Niwot at Highway 52 and 79th Street.

Prairie dogs were being live-trapped at both locations. "That's certainly a thread we're going to pull and see if anything comes out of it. At this stage, we don't want to say it was definitely related to prairie dog management, but that is certainly one aspect that we are looking into," Haverfield said.

Prairie dog conservation group, Keep Boulder Wild, put out a news release and quickly condemned the vandalism. "We would never support property destruction. We're interested in finding collaborative solutions and this is a setback in that regard," said Taylor Jones, a scientist with the organization. "It reflects badly on the whole environmental activist community. It didn't even occur to me that something like this would happen in Boulder."

Boulder County agricultural specialist Amy Schwartz also was surprised. She works in prairie dog management for the county. "Most of these advocacy groups don't partake in these activities," she said.

Jones said that members of Keep Boulder Wild have also seen vandalism to properties where they are working to passively relocate prairie dogs. She said it's unclear whether the vandals are pro- or anti-prairie dog or something else. "Vandalism makes it much more difficult to humanely relocate prairie dogs. Members of KBW have encountered incidents of vandalism that inhibit their ability to enact non-lethal solutions. It needs to stop."

Prairie dog management is a heated subject, especially now. The City of Boulder is currently considering expanding options for lethal prairie dog control. Jones said Keep Boulder Wild is working on a compromise solution that reduces the original proposed area of lethal control and incorporates stakeholder input on a parcel by parcel basis.

"Obviously, as environmental conservation professionals and prairie dog advocates, we don't want to see prairie dogs lethally controlled at all. We recognize it will happen and when it does we want it to happen as little as possible and as humanely as possible," she said.

Boulder County Parks and Open Space communications specialist Vivienne Jannatpour said the county is assessing the damage to prairie dog traps, vehicles and other equipment and figuring out next steps to get it back in service, "Some operations may get delayed, but we don't expect a big disruption."

The sheriff's office has processed the crime scene and is asking the public for help. "We are hoping that there might have been a witness to see some suspicious activity on either property. Particularly the one that sustained $100,000 of damage," Haverfield said. She is asking that anyone with information contact Deputy Tkach at [email protected].