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On October 5, 2015, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe helped release 30 Black-footed Ferrets at Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR near Denver, CO. The Black-footed Ferret is considered one of the most endangered mammals in the United States. Its historic range spans much of the western North America's inter-mountain and prairie grasslands extending from Canada to Mexico. Once thought to be extinct, they were rediscovered in 1981 in Northwest Wyoming. These last remaining 18 ferrets became the genesis of the captive breeding program that has given hope the species could be saved from extinction and recovered in the wild.