This state's classification carries no date range for the species.
Present in very small numbers in SE Colorado (Prowers/Baca county CRP grasslands; under 100 breeding males estimated statewide). Colorado state-listed threatened since 1973. Federal ESA delisting occurred Feb 2026, but per CPW's own species page Colorado's state threatened listing and no-hunting status remain in effect; no CO season exists.
Lesser prairie-chicken has no hunting season in Colorado (state-threatened since 1973; that status was unaffected by the species' February 2026 federal ESA delisting, per CPW's own species page), so what follows is a conservation range, not a hunting destination. The species survives in Colorado in two separate areas of the eastern plains: the primary sand-sage/CRP-grassland population in the extreme southeast corner (Prowers and Baca counties), shared with adjoining southwest Kansas, plus a smaller, geographically distinct population roughly two counties north in Cheyenne County, per CPW's own species page. CPW's own 2026 spring lek count (reported via Colorado Politics/Colorado Springs Gazette, quoting CPW deputy director Reid DeWalt) found 77 males on 13 leks, continuing a year-over-year decline since 2024, with fewer than 1,000 birds estimated across the whole CO/KS sand-sage ecoregion on a three-year average.
CPW's 2026 spring lek count for the SE Colorado sand-sage ecoregion found 77 males on 13 leks, a year-over-year decline continuing since 2024 (fewer than 1,000 birds estimated across the CO/KS sand-sage ecoregion on a 3-year average), per CPW deputy director Reid DeWalt. Reported via outdoor/ag press (Colorado Politics / Colorado Springs Gazette, Rachel Gabel, June 29, 2026); no CPW-hosted report URL exists for this program. The species has no hunting season in Colorado (state-threatened, protected); CPW continues this survey despite that, the same conservation-monitoring-despite-no-season pattern already logged for sage-grouse in CO/CA/ND.
habitat loss/conversion, energy infrastructure (transmission lines, wind turbines birds avoid), and drought/severe weather — named collectively in the source as ongoing pressures on the sand-sage ecoregion, not tied to a single 2026-specific cause
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