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Tag: Conservation

Great American Outdoors Act 250 Would Tackle National Park Maintenance Backlog
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Fox News, Approved, National

Great American Outdoors Act 250 Would Tackle National Park Maintenance Backlog

By Kevin D. Roberts and Chris Barnard | Fox News Bill would add a foreign visitor surcharge to help cover $40 billion in deferred maintenance. Conservatives have long understood that conservation is not about locking away America's natural treasures, but stewarding them through responsible use so future generations can enjoy the same public lands that earlier generations worked hard to secure. Just six years ago, President Donald Trump paid tribute to that legacy when he signed the original "Great American Outdoors Act" into law. That bill established the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF), which budgeted for countless infrastructure projects within our most precious landscapes. But that program expired last year, threatening the future of A...
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New Wolf Pack Confirmed in Eagle County as Colorado Monitors Population Growth
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Local

New Wolf Pack Confirmed in Eagle County as Colorado Monitors Population Growth

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A new gray wolf pack has formed in Eagle County, Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced on Wednesday. Known as the Piney Ridge Pack, it is the fourth pack of gray wolves in the state to have produced pups this year. According to CPW, the average litter size for wolves is four to six pups. More information about the packs will be included in the agency’s annual report next spring. “Detection of pups in late spring or early summer is inherently challenging, because of their use of remote habitats in dense cover, secretive nature of very young animals and time potentially underground,” said CPW’s Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell. “We are continuing to monitor the four reproducing packs in Colorado and will include...
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Colorado Wildlife Commission Sets New Limits on Fur Bearer Harvest While Rejecting Fur Sale Ban
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Wildlife Commission Sets New Limits on Fur Bearer Harvest While Rejecting Fur Sale Ban

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun The commission voted 6-5 to set daily bag limits to two animals per person for 17 species. Colorado trappers can no longer kill unlimited numbers of fur-bearing animals including mink, bobcat and coyote after the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission voted to limit them to two animals per species per day at its monthly meeting in Ignacio on Thursday.   The vote came after months of fighting between animal advocacy and pro-hunting groups, and the decision went against a recommendation by CPW staff and Director Laura Clellan, who had recommended a daily limit of four to 15 animals depending on species.  The new limit will affect a small number of hunters or trappers, as the vast majority of trappers take...
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Colorado Right To Hunt And Fish Measure Clears Key Ballot Hurdle
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The Steamboat Pilot, Approved, State

Colorado Right To Hunt And Fish Measure Clears Key Ballot Hurdle

By: Ali Longwell | The Steamboat Pilot Opponents of the measure are concerned it could limit wildlife management flexibility and spur legal challenges. A group seeking to establish a constitutional right to hunt and fish in Colorado has cleared a major hurdle on its way to the November 2026 ballot.  On July 8, supporters of what’s currently known as Initiative 302 submitted over 180,000 signatures to Colorado’s Secretary of State.  “This commitment by the people demonstrates the energy behind preserving our heritage here in the Centennial State this November,” said Dan Gates, founder of Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management, in a news release. “Now it’s time to get it across the finish line and codify this in the state constitution so c...
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Before tearing down dams, remember why they were built
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GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, National

Before tearing down dams, remember why they were built

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com A Montana friend reminded me of an old cowboy adage: “Before you take down a fence, you ought to pause long enough to ask why it was put there.” It’s a principle called “Chesterton’s Fence,” coined by writer G.K. Chesterton who cautioned against acting rashly. He wrote, “a ‘modern reformer’ says of the fence, ‘I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.’ But someone more intelligent refuses until learning why it’s there.” It is the perfect analogy for today’s debate about removing dams, a popular global trend for the past few years. Chesterton’s 1929 book, The Thing, explains the logic that should prevail: “This paradox rests on the most elementary common sense. The gate or fence did not grow there. It was not set up by somnambulis...
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New Colorado Laws Bring Major Changes July 1 for Gun Buyers, Homeowners, and Hunters
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

New Colorado Laws Bring Major Changes July 1 for Gun Buyers, Homeowners, and Hunters

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics Colorado will usher in a new set of laws on July 1 that touch everything from ammunition sales to insurance transparency and wildlife trafficking enforcement. Here is a look at some of the state’s new laws: Ammunition sales Sponsored by Majority Leader Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge, and Rep. Lindsay Gilchrist, D-Denver, and Sens. Judy Amabile, D-Boulder, and Cathy Kipp, D-Fort Collins, House Bill 25-1133 raises the minimum age to purchase ammunition from 18 to 21 years old. The bill also requires written notice to delivery drivers transporting boxes of ammunition, requires them to verify that the recipient is at least 21 and directs sellers to store ammunition in a secure area inaccessible to customers with...
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CPW Kills Wolf Linked To Dozens Of Sheep Deaths In Northwest Colorado
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Approved, State, The Denver Gazette

CPW Kills Wolf Linked To Dozens Of Sheep Deaths In Northwest Colorado

By: Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette Wildlife officers shot and killed a wolf believed to be responsible for killing at least 22 sheep over the past year in a remote northwestern county, according to a state agency. The animal came from the Copper Creek pack and is the 15th wolf to die in Colorado in the past two years. It’s also the second wolf from the Copper Creek pack to be shot by Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff due to chronic depredation of livestock. Wildlife staff had been hunting for the wolf since last year and, at one point, believed they had shot it, but the animal survived and disappeared. In a statement, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said that “visual evidence obtained at the scene confirmed the removed wolf is the same one that was depredati...
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Polis Adds Big Game Hunters and Agricultural Leaders to Colorado Wildlife Commission
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Sky-Hi News, Approved, State

Polis Adds Big Game Hunters and Agricultural Leaders to Colorado Wildlife Commission

By Ali Longwell | Sky-Hi News After Colorado Senators raised concerns with Gov. Jared Polis’ previous nominations for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, the governor has named three new appointees to the volunteer board tasked with guiding the state agency’s policies and regulations.  Polis announced the three appointments — in addition to reappointments for current commissioners, Gabriel Otero and Richard Reading — on Wednesday, June 3.  This included Dr. Peter Maguire, a veterinary neurologist in Grand Junction; Rebecca Niemiec, a tenured associate professor at Colorado State University’s Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources in Fort Collins; and Johnny Le Coq, who owns and lives on a ranch north of Silverthorne.  One of t...
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Colorado Pushes Constitutional Protection for Hunting and Fishing Traditions
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All Outdoor, Approved, State

Colorado Pushes Constitutional Protection for Hunting and Fishing Traditions

By Keith Lusher | All Outdoor A campaign is underway to place a constitutional amendment before Colorado voters this November that would permanently protect the right to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife in the state. Backers say the measure is urgently needed to shield long-standing traditions and the wildlife management system that funds them from shifting political winds. The T. Roosevelt Conservation Alliance announced the launch of Initiative 302, which would add a constitutional right to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife across all species managed by the state. The initiative received unanimous approval from the state’s Title Board, and supporters have until August 28 to gather the required signatures to qualify for the ballot. The measure preserves the f...
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Colorado Voters May Decide Constitutional Right To Hunt And Fish
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Voters May Decide Constitutional Right To Hunt And Fish

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–Colorado voters may well get the chance to weigh in this November on creating a constitutional right to hunt and fish, which proponents say is necessary to protect outdoor sporting activities from an ongoing onslaught of anti-hunting efforts. The T. Roosevelt Conservation Alliance, a newly formed issue committee, launched  Initiative 302, ‘Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish’ in early April. The ballot measure would amend the state Constitution, establishing hunting, fishing, and harvesting of fish and wildlife as a constitutional right to every Coloradan. It would apply to all species managed by the state except for endangered, federally prohibited, and non-game species. “Coloradans value the state’s long-st...
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