Citizen Petition* for Rule Making:

• Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting

  Please come early to sign up to comment: 2:15 p.m. (agenda item), Nov. 4th, 2026

  (Agenda) (CPW Issue Paper)

  Location

  The Block: Commissary Kitchen & Events
  19592 E 8th Ave
  Fort Morgan, CO 80701

  • Read the Petition

  • Executive Summary

  • PDC letter sent to County Commissions

  *The petition was submitted by Pam Wanek, a fourth-generation Coloradan, prairie dog management expert and Prairie Dog Coalition Steering Committee member.

Why This Matters

• Prairie dogs support grassland wildlife. Their colonies provide food, shelter and habitat for species including eagles, hawks, burrowing owls, swift foxes and endangered black-footed ferrets.

• Recreational shooting is a preventable threat. It can reduce prairie dog populations and reproduction, disrupt social behavior and slow colony recovery. Lead ammunition in abandoned carcasses can also expose scavenging wildlife to poisoning.

• This petition focuses on public lands. It would leave existing prairie dog management rules on private lands unchanged.

  How to Comment

  The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission is scheduled to consider the petition November 4, 2026, in Fort Morgan, Colorado.

  We urge the Commission to advance the petition in November and move toward a vote on final rule language in January.

  • Attend the CPW Commission meeting on Nov. 4th in Fort Morgan and come early (12-1 pm) to sign up to testify!

  • Written comments are closed BUT you can still email your comments to the Commissioners by Nov. 4.

    richard.reading@state.co.us;

    dallas.may@state.co.us;
    frances.silvablayney@state.co.us;

    james.tutchton@state.co.us;

    gabriel.otero@state.co.us;

    jess.beaulieu@state.co.us;

    becky.niemiec@state.co.us;
    john.lecoq@state.co.us;
    peter.maguire@state.co.us;

    tai.jacober@state.co.us;
    jack.murphy@state.co.us

    dnr_cpwcommission@state.co.us

     laura.l.clellan@state.co.us 

‍Background

Recreational shooting is one among several threats to the state’s prairie dogs and one that can be reduced significantly by regulatory change. Currently, Colorado has no bag or possession limit for shooting prairie dogs.  There is a season on public land from “June 15 – end of February annually” but no seasonal closure on private lands. 

The petition is based on the best available science. The Petitioners 1) delineated the proposed language changes for 2 C.C.R. § 406-309, 2) provided the science-based reasons for the proposal, and 3) requested a hearing on the petition with the Commission.

Talking Points

• Colorado’s three prairie dog species have lost more than 95% of their historic habitat. CPW designates all three as Species of Greatest Conservation Need.

• Prairie dog colonies support more than 20 other Colorado species of conservation concern—another reason to end recreational shooting.

• Prairie dogs help shape healthy grasslands. More than 250 vertebrate species have been observed on their colonies, including burrowing owls, swift foxes and endangered black-footed ferrets.

• Recreational shooting can eliminate colonies, reduce reproduction, disrupt social behavior and slow recovery.

• Lead fragments in abandoned carcasses can poison eagles, hawks and other scavengers.

• The petition applies only to public lands, leaving prairie dog control on private lands unchanged.

• The Commission has the science needed to act. It should advance the petition in November and vote on final language in January.