An organization representing hundreds of current and former Colorado Parks and Wildlife employees has written a resolution supporting “science-based wildlife conservation.”
The resolution, approved by the association’s board on Oct. 9, said “it is clear that all wildlife in Colorado is best protected, enhanced and managed through science-based wildlife management professionals employed by State of Colorado for such purposes.”
In particular, the group said the science-based approach is “consistent with the mission of Colorado Parks and Wildlife” and as described by the principles of the “North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.”
The organization is not just an observer of CPW activities. It represents 230 agency employees, past and present, including biologists, administrators and wildlife officers.
Between the lines, the group appears to be signaling its preference for “science-based wildlife conservation” against recent efforts to turn key wildlife management decisions over to voters, rather than agency staff. of wild animals to do this task.
Board President Casey Westbrook, a CPW wildlife district manager, told Colorado Politics that the resolution is intentionally broad and does not address the two ballot measures put before voters in the past four years, including Proposition 114, which directed the wildlife agency to relocate wolves on the Western Slope, despite massive opposition from voters in those counties; and this year’s Proposition 127, which, if passed, would ban the hunting of mountain lions, bobcats and lynx.
The lynx is a protected species, listed as endangered in Colorado and threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and is illegal to hunt.
“If this is going to be a trend, we’d like to buck it,” Westbrook told Colorado Politics.
CWEPA membership dates back to 1947.
“Our reason for existing is so that we can do our job to the best of our ability,” Westbrook said. “This resolution is intended to try to achieve just that — those of us who are professionals at this, employed to do this and trusted by the public to do this, are actually allowed to do it.”
There are almost always unintended consequences, he said, adding that the difficulty with wildlife management is that it must always be adaptive.
Circumstances change and evolve, Westbrook said, adding, “Putting things in place through ballot measures makes that flexibility difficult.”
The resolution’s citation of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation is critical.
In the United States and Canada, the model operates on seven interdependent principles:
• Wildlife resources are conserved and held in trust for all citizens
• Trade in dead wildlife is eliminated
• Wild animals are divided according to the democratic rule of law
• Wild animals can only be killed for a legitimate purpose, not frivolous
• Wildlife is an international resource
• Every person has equal opportunities under the law to participate in hunting and fishing
• Scientific management is the right tool for wildlife conservation
On its website, CPW states, “NAMWC is implemented throughout the United States. In Colorado, the model has helped species such as lynx, moose, black-footed ferrets, elk and turkeys among others. Millions of dollars generated by hunters and anglers—through license sales and excise taxes on equipment and firearms—are why this model works.”
The battle to ban the hunting of mountain lions, bobcats and lynx has been raging in Colorado since 2017, when the Humane Society of the United States unsuccessfully petitioned the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to enforce a ban. When that failed, the Humane Society of the United States went to the Colorado General Assembly, where the state Senate’s Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee in 2022 gave a thumbs-up to legislation pushed by the group.
Testimony during a hearing on the 2022 bill pointed out that of the 960 species managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, about 80 are hunted. Hunting and fishing licenses also provide 75% of the agency’s annual revenue and about $2 billion in economic impact annually.