An organization representing hundreds of current and former Colorado Parks and Wildlife employees has drafted a resolution in support of “science-based wildlife protections.”

The resolution, approved by the association's board of directors on Oct. 9, said it is “self-evident that all wildlife in Colorado is best protected, nurtured and managed by the science-based wildlife management experts that the State of Colorado deems.” used for such purposes.”

Specifically, the group said the science-based approach is “consistent with the mission of Colorado Parks and Wildlife” and consistent with the principles of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

The organization is not a mere spectator of CPW activities. It represents 230 past and present agency employees, including wildlife biologists, administrators and officials.

Between the lines, the group appears to express its preference for “science-based wildlife protection,” in contrast to recent efforts to leave key wildlife management decisions to voters, rather than leaving that task to wildlife agency staff.

Board President Casey Westbrook, a district wildlife manager with CPW, told Colorado Politics that the resolution is intentionally broad and does not address the two ballot measures put before voters in the last four years, including Proposition 114, which required the wildlife agency to do so ordered wolves to be relocated to 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 bobcats.

Lynx are a protected species listed as endangered in Colorado and threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Hunting them is forbidden.

“If this is going to be a trend, we would like to be at the forefront,” Westbrook told Colorado Politics.

CWEPA's membership dates back to 1947.

“Our reason for existing is so we can do our jobs to the best of our ability,” Westbrook said. “This resolution is intended to do just that – those of us who are professionals at this, who are employed to do this, and whom the public trusts to do this, are actually allowed to do it.”

There are almost always unintended consequences, he said, adding that the difficulty in wildlife management is that it always has to be adaptable.

Circumstances change and evolve, Westbrook said, adding: “Fixing things through ballot measures makes it difficult to have that flexibility.”

The resolution's reference to the North American model of wildlife conservation is crucial.

In the United States and Canada, the model is based on seven interdependent principles:

• Wildlife resources are protected and held in trust for all citizens

• The trade in dead wild animals is prohibited

• Wild animals are allocated according to democratic rule of law

• Wild animals may only be killed for a legitimate, not frivolous purpose

• Wildlife is an international resource

• Every person has the same legal opportunity to participate in hunting and fishing

• Scientific management is the right way to protect wildlife

On its website, CPW states: “The NAMWC is being implemented throughout the United States. In Colorado, the model has helped species such as bobcats, elk, black-footed ferrets, elk and turkeys, among others. Anglers – through license sales and excise taxes on equipment and firearms – are the reason this model works.”

The fight to ban the hunting of mountain lions, bobcats and bobcats in Colorado has been going on since 2017, when the Humane Society of the United States unsuccessfully petitioned the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to implement a ban on multiple occasions. When that failed, the Humane Society of the United States went to the Colorado General Assembly, where the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee in 2022 gave a decisive “thumbs down” to legislation pushed by the group.

Testimony during the hearing on the 2022 bill showed that of the 960 species managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, about 80 are hunted. Hunting and fishing licenses also account for 75% of the agency's annual revenue and generate approximately $2 billion in economic impact annually.