A mid-July workshop looks to show local residents how they can stop prairie dogs and cheatgrass from taking over their acreage.

Seven organizations are sponsoring the free Casper workshop, which will emphasize prairie dog and cheatgrass control and drought-tolerant landscaping.

Brian Connely, education coordinator with the Natrona County Weed and Pest Control District, will present “Prairie Dog Management, a Cooperative Approach” and “Cheatgrass Explosion.” Connely will be joined in the prairie dog presentation by Larry Bentley of the Natrona County Prairie Dog Coordinated Resource Management.

He will present control tools and techniques, an introduction to a county-wide effort of management, and the need for cooperation by landowners for success.

Connely’s cheatgrass presentation offers an approach combining range management and herbicide application to control the invasive grass.

Tom Heald, University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service small acreage/horticulture educator, discusses varieties of native and adapted plants suitable for Wyoming’s climate and alkaline soils in “What If We Had a Drought and Our Garden Plants Didn’t Know It?”

The workshop takes place Tuesday, July 17. Registration begins at 5:30 p.m., introductions start at 6 p.m. and workshops run from 6:15 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the UW CES Agricultural Resource and Learning Center, located at 2011 Fairgrounds Road.

To pre-register or for more information, contact Terra Alpaugh or Kristin Sancken, interns with the Small Acreage Issue Team, at (307) 233-6776 or {M7terra.alpaugh@wy.usda.gov.