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Tag: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

When Conditions Change, Should Wildlife Management Change Too?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

When Conditions Change, Should Wildlife Management Change Too?

By Naomi Riess | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice We have all heard the saying: A fed bear is a dead bear. This year, Colorado is seeing what happens when nature runs short of food. In Southwest Colorado, drought and a late-spring freeze have severely reduced natural bear foods. Statewide, CPW has reported 8,672 bear-related sightings and incidents through August, 3.6 times the five-year average. Relocations are running 3.5 times the average and euthanizations 2.7 times the average. A Durango bear was recently euthanized after being found in poor condition. A necropsy found its stomach and upper intestine completely blocked with trash. The bear was essentially starving to death. We need to keep people from attracting bears. CPW worked with our local representative and...
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Right to hunt: The strange branding of Colorado’s sensible-conservation group
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The Outdoor Wire, Approved, Commentary, State

Right to hunt: The strange branding of Colorado’s sensible-conservation group

By Chris Dorsey | Commentary, The Outdoor Wire Modern politics has a gift for parodying itself, but even by Colorado standards, this one is hard to improve upon: the campaign warning voters against a constitutional right to hunt and fish has found itself with a hunter delivering the message. Enter Eric Washburn, president of the newly formed Colorado Hunters and Anglers for Sensible Wildlife Conservation, who has come forward to explain why hunters should be alarmed by the prospect of protecting hunting. Washburn says he hunts big game, holds multiple Colorado licenses, and has hunted waterfowl. Fine. Nobody needs to inspect his freezer. The interesting question isn't whether Eric Washburn hunts; it's how a professional public-affairs consultant with a long record of advocating w...
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Amendment 83 Seeks Constitutional Protection for Colorado Hunting and Fishing
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KJCT-TV ABC 8, Approved, State

Amendment 83 Seeks Constitutional Protection for Colorado Hunting and Fishing

By Brianna Chappie | KJCT The proposed amendment has surpassed the signature threshold, setting up a November vote over a potential enshrining of hunting and fishing rights for Coloradans. GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - A hunting and fishing conservation group celebrated a big victory recently after gathering enough signatures to add a new amendment onto the upcoming Nov. 3 ballot. On Sept. 4, the ‘Right to Hunt and Fish Amendment’ surpassed the 124,238 signatures required to be added onto the ballot. The amendment was introduced by the organization, The International Order of T. Roosevelt (IOTR). “It’s an organization that’s been around since 1975,” said IOTR CEO Luke Hilgemann. “We exist to protect hunting, fishing and what we believe are the fundamental fre...
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Rising Livestock Losses Put Colorado Wolf Management Under Scrutiny
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The Coloradoan, Approved, State

Rising Livestock Losses Put Colorado Wolf Management Under Scrutiny

By Miles Blumhardt | The Coloradoan Colorado wildlife officials have killed four wolves in the past three months, including two Sept. 7, and wildlife officers are reported to be attempting to kill another wolf after a rash of livestock depredations spread over multiple counties. The latest two lethal removals were of two uncollared wolves, one from the Copper Creek pack in Pitkin County and one from the Three Rivers pack in Rio Blanco County, according to a state wildlife agency news release Sept. 8. Colorado has seen depredations spike, with 21 confirmed depredations in August, 13 in July and 51 this year as of Sept. 6., according to the agency's depredation page. The previous depredation high was 37 in 2025. Colorado Parks and Wildlife estimates the state has a ...
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If they control your ammunition, they control your rifle
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

If they control your ammunition, they control your rifle

By Sean M. Pond | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice If you hunt, own a gun, raise livestock or care about the Second Amendment, you need to pay attention to what is happening at the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission. The people coming after hunting have found an easier path than convincing Colorado voters. They can take a so-called citizen petition to an appointed commission and ask that commission to regulate hunters out of the field. They do not have to ban your rifle if they ban the ammunition it fires. That is exactly what one petition now before the Commission is designed to do. The proposal seeks a statewide ban on traditional lead ammunition while taking wildlife. It was filed by 18 organizations and presented by attorneys for Animal Wellness Action and ...
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Boebert Welcomes Trump Wolf Review as Colorado Ranchers Face Continued Losses
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Boebert Welcomes Trump Wolf Review as Colorado Ranchers Face Continued Losses

By Marianne Goodland The Denver Gazette President Donald Trump has directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to launch a 90-day review on whether gray wolves and Mexican wolves should be removed from Endangered Species Act protections. The order drew mixed reactions for Colorado’s wolf-reintroduction effort, with ranchers and some state leaders calling it a step toward more flexible management, while wolf advocates argue it strips away key safeguards. If Burgum determines delisting or downlisting is warranted, the order said states would be encouraged to remove gray wolves and Mexican wolves from their own protected species lists and to loosen lethal-control standards to help ranchers respond to predation. The order also says the Interior Secretary...
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CPW Commission Rejects Public Comment Restrictions in Narrow 6-to-5 Vote
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Colorado West News Magazine, Approved, State

CPW Commission Rejects Public Comment Restrictions in Narrow 6-to-5 Vote

By Brian Porter | Colorado West News Magazine LA JUNTA, Colo. – It’s the dysfunction of the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Commission, and not the public, causing marathon meetings that derail agendas, Commissioner Dallas May said Wednesday. He successfully opposed a plan by Chairman Jay Tutchton that would have significantly changed public commenting during the two-day meeting at Otero College in La Junta, minimizing the perspective of public officials and not absolutely guaranteeing anyone the opportunity to comment. “Our elected representatives speak for thousands of constituents,” May said, supporting an existing policy which allows them priority in sequence and for added time of five minutes. An example is Merrit Linke, who spoke to the Commission in July. H...
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After 4.25 Million Gallon Sewage Spill Arkansas River Faces a Long Cleanup
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Local

After 4.25 Million Gallon Sewage Spill Arkansas River Faces a Long Cleanup

By John Ingold and Michael Booth | The Colorado Sun Are cantaloupes and peppers safe to eat? How will the river get clean? Everything we know about what comes next after a 4.25 million gallon sewage spill. A massive spill of raw sewage and untreated wastewater into the Arkansas River in southeastern Colorado continues to wreak havoc on the region. Water in the river downstream of the spill, east of Pueblo, is still testing high for dangerous nasties like the bacteria E. coli. Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Wednesday issued advisories for people to stay away from the water in 10 state wildlife areas along the river, as well as the Las Animas State Fish Hatchery. And all of this is happening during one of the most agriculturally important times for the Lower Ark...
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Colorado Counties Push Back as CPW Rules Could Silence Local Voices
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Counties Push Back as CPW Rules Could Silence Local Voices

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The September meeting of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission will feature newly revised public‑comment rules — changes introduced by chair Jay Tutchton of Bent County, who announced them without first discussing the revisions publicly with the rest of the commission. Tutchton set forth the new rules as follows: The general public comment agenda item will be set at 60 minutes.  Virtual and in-person commenters will be called at random, replacing the previous first-come, first-served system of signing up and prioritizing in-person first opportunities.  The Commission will hear commenters in a two-thirds split, allowing only a third of the speakers to come from the online platform. Priority, in terms of receiving a...
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Colorado Ballot Measure Would Protect Hunting and Fishing in State Constitution
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Ballot Measure Would Protect Hunting and Fishing in State Constitution

By Mike Krause | Complete Colorado DENVER–Colorado voters will decide in November whether to enshrine hunting and fishing as a constitutional right, after the secretary of state’s office on Wednesday confirmed Initiative #302 qualified for the general election ballot. Backers of the measure, formally titled “Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish,” turned in over 184,000 petition signatures, with state election officials declaring more than 145,000 of those as valid, easily clearing the roughly 124,000 signature threshold required for constitutional amendments, as well as the 2% per-district requirement in all 35 of Colorado’s state senate districts. The measure, backed by the newly formed T. Roosevelt Conservation Alliance, amends the Colorado Constitution to establish...
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