Alan BartelsThis book began during breakfast with friends Susan Elmore, John Murphy, Sarah Sortum, Debra Hann, Tom Mangelsen, and Jane Goodall after watching greater prairie chickens on Bruce and Sue Ann Switzer's ranch. "You should write a children's book aboutthe plight of prairie dogs called What's Going Down in Prairie Dog Town?" Susan told me. I knew this was an important issue to bring to light. After sharing a Nebraska Sandhills sunrise with Jane Goodall, my conservation inspiration since childhood, I was determined. I know that many other species suffer when prairie dog towns are destroyed. One species, the black-footed ferret, hasn't lived wild in my home state of Nebraska during my lifetime. According to some estimates, development of land for agriculture, roads, homes, cities, and industry has reduced the range of prairie dogs to just one percent of the 700 million acres the species originally occupied. And yet the destruction continues. Read More Read Less