Colorado released thousands of prairie dogs into a chemical wasteland, and the mission took a wild turn. The relocation was meant to save the species from extinction, yet activists insisted the animals were being sent to a toxic site that could spell disaster.
In 1989, wildlife managers released 714 prairie dogs onto a former chemical weapons production site roughly 10 miles outside Denver. The land, part of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, had been contaminated by decades of industrial activity and was considered biologically dead. The prairie dogs were introduced with a modest goal: to stabilize the soil and reduce dust. Their effect, however, went far bey…