San Juan Islands NHP superintendent says rabbits gone from area to be control-burned
The National Park Service sprayed the herbicide Roundup over a three-acre area of the American Camp prairie in June, in preparation for a prescribed burn and planting of native grasses.
That's according to Peter Dederich, the National Park superintendent, as he prepared for a public meeting Tuesday on the proposed removal of European rabbits as part of the prairie restoration plan. The burn was postponed because of dampness and, later, because of wind. Dederich expects the burn will take place in September.
Dederich said he didn't expect that the spraying had any effect on rabbits in the sprayed area, because he believes the rabbits had moved. Before the spraying, the area was checked for Island Marble butterflies, a rare species once believed to have been extinct, and for foxes, he said.
"I don't think there are rabbits in that area," Dederich said. "They have been gone from that area, we think, trying to avoid predation. On the gravel path to the parade ground and the laundress's quarters, there are scads of rabbits."