Welcome to the Arid Lands Field Station

...Developing and disseminating science-based information and tools needed for understanding the Nation’s biological resources in support of effective decision making.

Located on the University of New Mexico main campus in Albuquerque, the Arid Lands Field Station is a satellite office of the Fort Collins Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey. Staff members work in two nearby buildings, Castetter Hall (Biology) and CERIA (Museum of Southwestern Biology).

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In the News

Black-footed Ferret Recovery: 30 Years since Meeteetse

Derek the Ferret, one of the earlier members of the captive breeding population. Photo © Cheryl Kolus. Used with permission.

On September 26, 1981, a ranch dog named Shep caught an odd-looking weasel on a working cattle ranch near Meeteetse, Wyoming, single-"handedly" rediscovering what was thought to be an extinct species. Verified as a black-footed ferret by federal curator Dr. Robert Finley, the specimen was preserved for perpetuity as BS/FC 7934 in the Biological Surveys Collection, now located in Albuquerque, NM, and overseen by USGS Collection Manager Cindy Ramotnik. (The collection also contains 15 of the original 18 “founder” individuals that were removed from the wild for the captive breeding effort.) Not long after the rediscovery, USGS wildlife biologist Dean Biggins began his long-term research on black-footed ferrets that continues to this day. This research, conducted in conjunction with scores of cooperators and partners over the years, has led to the establishment of 19 black-footed ferret reintroduction sites within the species' historic range. Today the wild population is estimated to be about 1000 individuals. A selection of Dr. Biggins' and collaborators' research is summarized in 8 papers published in a special section of the August 2011 Journal of Mammalogy. The articles summarize data collected over the past 30 years on ferret ecology, operational conservation techniques, strategies for rearing ferrets for successful reintroduction, the efficacy of using a surrogate species for predicting survival outcomes and comparative results from trial releases of ferrets, and research conducted on reintroduced populations of ferrets concerning predation, genetic viability, translocation success, and habitat relationships.

Black-footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) Research

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