Denver -- The state Wildlife Commission will this week discuss adding new firepower to Colorado's arsenal of lethal measures to wipe out prairie dogs and other burrowing creatures: explosive gases.

Under a proposal by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, explosive gases -- such as a mix of oxygen and propane -- could be injected and then ignited inside the burrows of prairie dogs, ground squirrels, gophers and marmots.

Wildlife officials say they've been approached by organic produce growers.

''This is a way for them to avoid using toxic substances to help them remain certified as organic,'' said Colorado Division of Wildlife spokesman Tim Holeman. ''It's a new tool for them.''

Local conservation groups say the idea is barbaric -- and not too far removed from the film ''Caddyshack'' in which Bill Murray's character, Carl Spackler, uses dynamite to try to blast a gopher from its golf course digs.

''It's a terrible idea,'' said Judy Enderle, president of the Prairie Preservation Alliance. ''You're talking about something that's just as powerful as TNT and dangerous to the user.''