Issues We’re Watching

Stricter regulations on prairie dog hunting on Colorado public lands

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission may consider stricter regulations on prairie dog hunting on public lands due to concerns over high-volume, unregulated killings and potential lead contamination. (PDC will keep you posted on this public testimony opportunity potentially for the March Commission meeting, once the agenda has been posted.)

Currently, prairie dogs are classified as a small game species, allowing year-round hunting, but PDC and our advocates are asking the Commission to curtail the wanton waste of wildlife with the recreational shooting of prairie dogs on public lands. 

CPW is renowned in the West for its prairie dog conservation efforts, dedicating resources to sylvatic plague mitigation in the field and keeping prairie dog populations healthy for wildlife, including the endangered black-footed ferret.  

At issue is the conflict between managing prairie dogs as a "varmint" species, under the state department of agriculture allowing for lethal control, and recognizing them as a vital keystone species, managed as nongame under CPW's State Wildlife Action Plan. And while at the same time the agency allows for recreational shooting of this keystone species. 

The CPW Commission needs to rectify this management issue by banning prairie dog hunting on public lands in Colorado. And PDC and our affiliate members will be making our position known before the CPW Commission once they take up the issue. 

Dumping on Pawnee National Grasslands

A severe volume of bullets and casings from recreational shooting, trash, and illegal dumping is littering Pawnee National Grasslands (CO). A mosaic of ownership makes managing this public land difficult, but stronger regulations are needed to ensure Pawnee is protected and respected.

You can take action by: 1. participating in an individual or group clean-up; 2. if you see something, say something! 3. Normalize and encourage leave-no-trace principles whenever and however you recreate, and remind others too.

The shooting of prairie dogs is also common on Pawnee, but doing so is currently legal in posted areas.

Upcoming Gas Leases

Upcoming gas leases for Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana are putting grassland habitat at risk of extraction. Check out Rocky Mountain Wild’s breakdown of the leases and resources for getting involved.

You can take action by submitting comments to the BLM to have valuable habitat removed from the proposed parcel list.