Overview

• Experts have begun a two-week comprehensive trapping rollout as the second phase of the base’s three-step mitigation strategy.
• Residents completed the initial phase by setting backyard traps to curb Richardson Ground Squirrel numbers.
• The ground squirrels tunnel beneath runways and housing, posing disease risks and potential damage to critical installations.
• Federal regulations banning toxic rodenticides and the squirrels’ resistance to standard pesticides have forced the Air Force to rely on trapping.
• Minot AFB’s role in the U.S. nuclear triad, housing 26 B-52 bombers and 150 ICBMs, underscores the urgency of securing infrastructure.