Colorado is one vote away from ending the recreational shooting of prairie dogs on public land. On Nov. 5, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission voted 6 to 5 to move the ban forward. The final decision comes in January, and commissioners need to hear that Coloradans want it passed.

Right now, people can shoot unlimited numbers of prairie dogs for sport on public land from June 15 through February. The proposed rule would replace that season with a year-round ban on places like the Pawnee National Grassland northeast of Greeley and the Cimarron and Comanche National Grassland along the Kansas border.

Prairie dogs matter far beyond their size. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls them a keystone species because dozens of other animals rely on them, including the endangered black-footed ferret. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) itself lists prairie dogs as a species of greatest conservation need. Defenders of Wildlife also warns that scavengers feeding on shot carcasses can be poisoned by lead from the bullets.

The ban is narrow. It would not change shooting on private land or a county’s power under state law to remove prairie dogs that damage crops. According to Commission Chair Jay Tutchton, it would not affect grazing land that ranchers lease, either.

The commission has already done the hard part by moving this rule forward. Now it needs to finish the job. Sign the petition to tell the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to pass the prairie dog shooting ban at its January vote and give these animals real protection on public land.