Prairie dogs occupied less land in Boulder in 2025, and the city plans to continue a pilot program that helps landowners pay for barriers through 2026, according to the city’s annual prairie dog meeting held on Jan. 12.
While prairie dogs can play a key role in the ecosystem through their burrows and position in the food chain, their tendency to overgraze alongside cattle leads to topsoil loss, raising concerns that Boulder’s lands are becoming more desertlike.
Prairie dogs covered about 7% less land in 2025, with animals spread across roughly 5,100 acres, down from about 5,500 in 2024, and 11 fewer active colonies. Ecological Stewardship Senior Manager Brian Lieberman attributed the decline to removal efforts and a wet spring, as denser vegetation can hinder prairie dog expansion. The city has used lethal control methods since 2021, with those efforts focused on actively irrigated lands.
Prairie dog management is now overseen by wildlife and ecological stewardship staff after the city’s former prairie dog ecologist, Tory Poulton, left the position in June 2025. The position was left vacant due to a citywide hiring freeze and was later eliminated to reduce costs, Lieberman said at the annual meeting. He said the city does not expect to scale back prairie dog management but may need to hire outside contractors.
City officials are also considering the reintroduction of black-footed ferrets as a potential control strategy. Boulder County and the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge have identified ferret introduction as a goal and may partner with the city. Black-footed ferrets favor prairie dogs as prey. Any reintroduction would require at least 1,500 continuous acres of active prairie dog habitat and aggressive management of sylvatic plague, which affects prairie dog populations. Those discussions have paused since Poulton’s departure, Lieberman said.
Last year marked the first year of the city’s prairie dog barrier cost-sharing program, under which the city covers up to 50% of barrier costs, capped at $10,000 per project. Sixteen of 30 applications were approved, though only seven projects were completed within the year. The city plans to offer the program for one more year, with applications opening in the spring and a reevaluation scheduled for the end of 2026. The city has allocated $50,000 for barrier funding.
“No barrier is 100% effective, but they are helpful in slowing expansion of recolonization,” said Lieberman. Without barriers, prairie dogs can quickly reoccupy cleared land, increasing the likelihood that lethal control will be used.
This year, the city will allow lethal control during the prairie dog pupping season, from March 1 through May 31, at select sites considered at high risk for recolonization. Those sites must have previously undergone prairie dog removal. Female prairie dogs do not relocate during pupping season, meaning sites recolonized during that time would contain only males and non-reproducing females.
“We’re trying to keep these populations down to reduce lethal control in the future,” said Eric Fairlee, the city’s agricultural senior program manager.
Relocation efforts continued in 2025, with 193 prairie dogs captured in the fall and transferred to the Pueblo Chemical Depot. Further relocations are planned for this year, according to city officials. Residents can comment on the city’s draft 2026 prairie dog management plans through Jan. 22 by emailing osmpinput@bouldercolorado.gov.