The Importance of Speaking Up and Showing Up
Hello there and thank you for opening this email! My goal with this update is to try and inform you on what’s happening within Colorado’s Parks and Wildlife agency (also known as CPW). While it’s a Colorado issue, the ripple effect is much broader, which I’ll get to in a second. CPW is the agency that manages Colorado’s wildlife. They set hunting license quotas, conduct fish and wildlife population surveys, establish hunting and fishing seasons, along with a massive list of other very important natural resource responsibilities. CPW is the equivalent of Michigan’s DNR or Montana’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Every state has one of these agencies…you get the point.
I believe CPW is one of the best wildlife management agencies in the U.S. Good people who love wildlife, work hard, base their decision-making on science, and want the best for the wildlife Colorado is very blessed with.
So it’s been extremely frustrating to see what’s been happening to CPW over the last several years. In short, the governor (Jared Polis) has been systematically stacking the CPW Commission with commissioners who do not have the agency’s, the state’s wildlife resources, the science and data tied to those resources, or even the citizens of Colorado’s best interests in mind. These commissioners have the governor’s interests and their own personal agendas (which are closely linked) in mind and that’s about it.
A brief description of the CPW Commission: The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission is a 13-member citizen board appointed by the Governor to set regulations and policies for Colorado's state parks and wildlife programs. Members represent specific interests as mandated by state statute: three sportspersons (including one outfitter), three agricultural producers, three recreationalists, and two at-large members as well as two non-voting members. The commission is the top of the food chain for all things CPW. Every state wildlife agency has a commission.
The problem lately is some of CPW’s commissioners are ignoring the agency’s biologists on certain topics and essentially going against what science-driven data and fact-based information would suggest. The commissioners are not biologists. They haven’t done the research or put boots on the ground to collect that data like the CPW staff members have. It’s those same staff members who collect the data that’s then presented to the commissioners in order for them to make decisions grounded in those very numbers.
So instead of following what science and data suggest, some of the commissioners are doing the governor’s bidding (as well as the bidding of their own private interest groups) and their votes/opinions could be categorized as anti-hunting. A couple recent examples include supporting efforts to end mountain lion hunting and supporting efforts to chip away at the commercial aspect of furbearers…and these topics are the low-hanging fruit. Some of these commissioners’ backgrounds clearly come from an animal rights/anti-hunting perspective and yet these same commissioners are supposed to make rational decisions for us as hunters?
To cut to the chase, here’s my message: Regardless of what state you live in, I believe we’ve reached a point where it’s imperative that you as a hunter need to be showing up at your state’s commissioner meetings. If you can’t show up to one, then get the agenda and send an email to your state’s wildlife commissioners stating your opinion on relevant topics. You can send emails to Colorado’s commissioners, regardless of your residency. And don’t make it a one-time thing. Hunters need to consistently and respectfully speak up and show up.
Why?
Because Colorado’s situation is not an isolated case. Washington is going through the same crap. As is California. Here is a very important thing to understand: If you think the anti-hunting movement is not operating with a national agenda in mind, you’re sadly mistaken. These groups are well-funded, well-organized, and have smart, highly skilled lobbyists and lawyers. They’re also resilient. Their end goal is to do away with hunting altogether and they’ve proven they can bend the ear of Colorado’s governor, so do you really think they’ll just stop with Colorado?
But here’s why I believe there’s hope: their downfall is that a lot of their rhetoric and decision making is based on emotion. Science doesn’t back their agenda. The anti-hunting groups and their affiliated commissioners rationalize their decisions through the lens of emotion…not facts. Not science. That doesn’t hold water in the long run. By calling out their emotion-based, data-deprived agendas and demanding the science-based data our wildlife agencies have collected, tested and relied on for decades be the standard, these loaded commissioner appointments and anti-hunting efforts can be halted.
Speaking up and showing up to support wildlife agencies’ staff members and pushing back against unqualified commissioner appointments has never been more important. In Colorado’s case, its own wildlife management agency is literally being attacked from within. We all need to step up to support and defend: 1) science-based decision-making, 2) our wildlife agencies and their staff who collect the data and 3) our hunting future. Commissioner meetings are where you can have the most impact by speaking up and showing up. I hope all of you find the time and energy to do so. The concept of science-backed decision-making is under threat and your privilege to hunt is on the chopping block.
Organizations that will help you stay informed with accurate information are:
https://www.howlforwildlife.org This non-profit tracks wildlife management and commissioner-related issues across the United States.
https://www.backcountryhunters.org Backcountry Hunters and Anglers is a national organization that every hunter should be a member of. They’re a powerful voice for all public land and water issues but their individual state chapters, grassroots foundation and powerful local volunteer presence provides access to important local issues as well.
https://savethehuntcolorado.com This organization is specific to Colorado and is more commonly known as Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management. They’re banging the drum for wildlife conservation, promoting hunting and science-based wildlife management in Colorado.
You can send respectful emails to CPW’s commissioners collectively or individually and those email addresses can be found at this link along with meeting agendas, times, dates and locations: https://cpw.state.co.us/committees/colorado-parks-and-wildlife-commission
Thank you for reading and talk to you soon.