Prairie Dog Advocates Show Up for Colorado’s Public Lands
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Commission voted 6–5 at its November 4–5 meeting in Fort Morgan to advance the prairie dog petition toward final rulemaking in January. CPW presented two options: Alternative 1, keeping current rules, and Alternative 2, ending recreational prairie dog take on defined public lands. The Commission advanced Alternative 2; a closure has not yet been approved.
Prairie Dog Coalition (PDC) members showed up in force, with every steering committee member testifying in person. We brought decades of conservation experience and a clear message: protecting prairie dogs means protecting the grassland ecosystems and wildlife that depend on them.
Petitioner and PDC steering committee member Pam Wanek noted that less than 4% of Colorado’s prairie dog occupied acreage is on public lands, making those colonies especially important to protect. Lindsey Sterling-Krank emphasized that damage-control tools would remain available while the petition would end recreational shooting on public lands.
Conservationists, scientists, recreational shooters, ranchers, and county commissioners packed the room, with others testifying through Zoom. Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera testified in support. Grandmothers spoke about wildlife for their grandchildren, and many reminded commissioners that public lands belong to everyone.
Opponents raised concerns about shooting access and prairie dogs spreading onto neighboring property. Advocates stressed that private-land recreational take, damage-control authority, and tribal hunting rights would remain unchanged.
The science matters
Scientists explained how prairie dogs maintain grassland habitat through grazing and burrowing and provide prey and shelter for other wildlife. Their importance to endangered black-footed ferrets came up repeatedly.
Colorado State University scientist Dr. Ana Davidson explained that shooting affects surviving prairie dogs, too. A controlled experiment found changes in behavior and body condition and sharply reduced reproduction the following year. Two CSU graduate students also testified.
CPW maintains that statewide occupancy meets conservation benchmarks and recreational shooting does not drive landscape-scale declines. Wanek emphasized that CPW does not document how many prairie dogs are shot.
We asked commissioners to look beyond acreage totals to shooting’s effects on colony abundance, activity, and the habitat and prey prairie dogs provide. Commissioner Rich Reading cited research he coauthored in 2005 to question how well occupied acreage represents abundance. He and Commissioner Rebecca Niemiec emphasized impacts on individual colonies; Niemiec presented a 12-page scientific literature review.
Chair Jay Tutchton said he was listening to scientists, recognizing Davidson and Emma Balunek, researcher and PDC’s social media coordinator, who studied cooperative hunting by coyotes and badgers in prairie dog colonies.
Defenders of Wildlife’s Chamois Andersen highlighted research by USGS scientists Dean Biggins and David Eads suggesting that shooting-related mortality can concentrate fleas on surviving prairie dogs, potentially contributing to plague outbreaks. CPW dedicates staff and funding to plague management and black-footed ferret recovery. Allowing recreational shooting works against CPW’s efforts to conserve prairie dogs and recover black-footed ferrets, Andersen noted.
The Debate and the Decision
Nearly four hours of public testimony were followed the next morning by an executive session and more than three hours of debate among commissioners, centered on whether sufficient stakeholder engagement had occurred.
CPW’s Brian Dreher, Assistant Director of Terrestrial Wildlife, acknowledged gaps in shooting-location data. Responding to Commissioner Gabriel Otero, Jonathan Reitz, CPW’s small game manager, said recreational shooting is not the most effective way to control prairie dogs. He identified restricted-use pesticides as more effective. Dreher likewise said shooting is not a major population-control tool, and Chair Jay Tutchton questioned whether ending it would cause the increases ranchers fear.
Some commissioners sought more stakeholder outreach; Commissioners Niemiec and John Le Coq emphasized that engagement could continue through rulemaking and after a vote.
Commissioner Tai Jacober acknowledged prairie dogs’ ecological role but opposed the rushed process, emphasizing landowner cooperation around Pawnee and Comanche National Grasslands. Commissioner Peter Maguire opposed public-land shooting but could not support the expedited process.
Commissioner Frances Silva Blayney said stakeholders’ concerns were not reflected in the proposal and called for discussions with 47 agricultural organizations and 17 counties. Commissioner Dallas May warned that limited input could undermine trust and said prairie dogs exist because county commissioners and landowners allow them to exist.
In September, commissioners voted 11–0 to advance the petition for consideration but split 6–5 over the timeline. Tutchton expressed frustration after two decades of seeking action through successive CPW directors. He distinguished shooting from hunting, described it as biologically destructive, and questioned killing animals without using them. Concerned about losing prairie dogs on Comanche National Grassland, he emphasized the Commission’s responsibility to decide and supported a January vote, noting that a seasonal closure could be revisited.
Niemiec’s final motion advanced Alternative 2 toward final rulemaking in January, allowing staff to clarify the definition of public lands. Commissioners Frances Silva Blayney, Dallas May, Gabriel Otero, Tai Jacober, and Peter Maguire voted against it.
Following Through on Conservation Commitments
We believe stakeholder engagement should inform this process without delaying a decision on recreational shooting. PDC sees common ground in addressing agricultural conflicts on leased public lands and neighboring property through nonlethal solutions and incentives. Those conversations should continue through rulemaking and beyond.
Colorado’s 2003 Conservation Plan for Grassland Species, developed by a stakeholder group, addressed prairie dogs and associated wildlife. Federal efforts also recognized national grasslands’ importance for prairie dogs and ferret recovery. We ask agencies to honor those commitments. Conservation is a shared responsibility, and all Coloradans deserve opportunities to enjoy wildlife and healthy public grasslands.
Supportive comments came from Prairie Dog Action, Grasslands Colorado, Southern Plains Land Trust, Prairie Preserves, WildEarth Guardians, Western Watersheds Project, Humane World for Animals, Defenders of Wildlife, and many others.
Thank you to every PDC member who attended, testified, or submitted comments. Your voices and experience mattered. We also thank the commissioners for their thoughtful consideration. Together, we will keep protecting prairie dogs and the wildlife they sustain.
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Coexistence in Action: Relocating Prairie Dogs to Support Ferret Recovery
In September, Humane World for Animals, Southern Plains Land Trust (SPLT), and Colorado Parks and Wildlife relocated more than 200 prairie dogs from at-risk private land to a protected black-footed ferret conservation zone on an SPLT wildlife preserve in southeastern Colorado. The effort also trained 10 wildlife staff members in nonlethal prairie dog management.
Protecting prairie dogs supports endangered black-footed ferrets and a wider community of grassland wildlife. The Prairie Dog Coalition identifies 62 species of greatest conservation need with documented positive associations with prairie dog colonies.
The relocation began with crews placing traps around active burrows, with enough traps to capture each coterie, or family group. During a two-week “pre-baiting” period, the traps were secured open so prairie dogs could move freely in and out while feeding on whole oats. This helped the animals become comfortable entering the traps, increasing the likelihood of capturing and moving family groups together.
SPLT staff replenished the oats every few days. After two weeks, the full team returned to set the traps for capture. Captured prairie dogs were promptly collected and transported by truck to the release site.
At the preserve, the team kept coteries together and ensured juveniles were not released alone, giving the relocated prairie dogs a new home on protected land.
Prairie dogs make up about 90% of the black-footed ferret’s diet. Relocation efforts like this protect prairie dogs while strengthening the prey base ferrets need to survive and recover.
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Prairie Dog Coalition Welcomes People for Native Ecosystems
People for Native Ecosystems (PNE), a Santa Fe, New Mexico, volunteer organization protecting Gunnison’s prairie dogs, has joined the Prairie Dog Coalition as its newest affiliate member group.
PNE promotes coexistence through humane relocation, supplemental feeding, public education, and advocacy. Working with a certified relocator, its members have helped relocate approximately 2,000 prairie dogs threatened by construction and other conflicts. Volunteers also provide weekly supplemental food to colonies hemmed in by development and coordinate with city departments to monitor colonies.
PNE’s advocacy helped secure a 2001 city ordinance requiring preservation or relocation of prairie dog colonies on selected properties. Its projects have included rescuing animals from construction sites and financing relocations for colonies facing poisoning.
PDC welcomes PNE and its longstanding commitment to practical, nonlethal solutions that protect prairie dogs and help communities coexist with native wildlife.
