By Brian McCombie | Commentary, NRA Hunters’ Leadership Forum
Colorado anti-hunters are making yet another push to wrest control of that state’s wildlife from wildlife professionals. This time, it is the recently proposed Ballot Initiative 82, the “Colorado Wildlife & Biodiversity Protection Act.”
At its core, Initiative 82 would create an independent commission parallel to the current Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission. This independent commission would then draw up legal protections for unnamed “keystone species” and assess financial penalties for any violations of these protections.
If approved by voters in the state’s 2026 election, $2.5 million in taxpayer dollars will fund this commission. It then will decide what exactly are the “keystone species,” though observers predict it will be predators including mountain lions. To protect these species, the commission will implement various safeguards including legal sanctions for violating such safeguards.
“This [new attempt] isn’t surprising,” said Travis Couture-Lovelady, the NRA Institute for Legislative Action’s (NRA-ILA) Colorado State Director. “It’s more of a ‘here we go again’ moment. The attacks never end in Colorado.”
Those past attacks against hunting and science-based wildlife management most recently included Initiative 91, a controversial measure to ban cat hunting that made it onto Colorado’s 2024 ballot as Proposition 127. Not only was this ballot box referendum designed to end recreational opportunities for predator hunters, it also would have restricted the ability of state wildlife managers to manage growing predator populations through hunting. In working to secure hunting’s future, the NRA was quick to applaud Coloradoans for Responsible Wildlife Management, led by executive director Dan Gates, for its efforts to defeat the measure and protect the state’s hunting, fishing and trapping heritage and the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.
As with that initiative and other Colorado anti-hunting proposals, NRA-ILA alerted members and others about Initiative 82 and actively worked to try to head off the misguided effort.
“We successfully stopped the bill in the Colorado General Assembly, as legislators rightfully saw that leaving science-based decisions in the hands of the state wildlife experts is the best way to manage and protect wildlife populations,” said Couture-Lovelady.
He added that these anti-hunting efforts in Colorado are not haphazard but are clearly the work of well-organized and well-funded groups. He pointed to the list of supporters of Initiative 91 as an example. The effort was led by a group called Cats Aren’t Trophies, which lists over 80 animal rights-types groups that endorsed its work on the initiative. This list included the Audubon Society, Center for Biological Diversity, Humane Society of Boulder Valley and the Sierra Club Rocky Mountain Chapter.
Legal Hurdles for Initiative 82
As required by state law, Initiative 82 was submitted to the Colorado Legislative Council for review. The Council drew up a 19-page response to the initiative, which cited many, many flaws in the initiative’s text. The council also had a good number of questions concerning the proposal, and these questions require answers before the proposal can go any further. No doubt Initiative 82 authors are currently hard at work to resubmit the proposal.
Issues Following Wolf Re-Introduction
Colorado livestock producers know all too well about the losses that can accrue when animal rights proposals actually become law. One such successful proposal in 2020, Proposition 114, reintroduced wolves into Colorado.
By the way, the professional wildlife managers at Colorado Parks and Wildlife actually weighed in against the wolf reintroduction. It didn’t matter.
By 2024, Colorado livestock producers reported that wolves were killing a growing number of their cattle and sheep. One key culprit was the “Copper Creek Pack,” adult wolves set loose in December 2023. Since then, reports indicate that at least three wolf cubs have been born to the original wolves.
Rancher Ted Ritschard lives on and works his ranch in Grand County, Colo., where most of the wolf attacks on livestock have occurred. According to the Associated Press, “He blamed them [the wolves] for killing at least 16 cattle and sheep and wants them in captivity so they don’t kill again.”
Ritschard, who is also president of the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association, explained, “These pups have learned to kill livestock so they’re going to keep doing it. Once they get a taste of sheep or cattle, that’s a whole different world.”
As noted on this NRA Hunters’ Leadership Forum website, the Prop 114 vote “was the first time in history that a state’s authority to decide whether to introduce a species was taken from the state wildlife agency, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and given to voters who know nothing about science-based wildlife management.”
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Brian McCombie is a field editor for the NRA’s American Hunter and writes about firearms and gear for the NRA’s Shooting Illustrated. A member of the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Brian enjoys hunting hogs, shooting 1911s, watching the Chicago Bears and relaxing with his two cats.
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.