Even as a key Colorado committee prepares for its penultimate posturing in the debate over big-game license allocation, a corresponding movement at the national level has taken a bold, new turn.
The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed a bill co-sponsored by Colorado Rep. Mark Udall to secure each state’s right to regulate hunting and fishing inside its borders.
The measure, which addresses the ability of states to determine the balance of licenses reserved for residents or nonresidents, is scheduled for U.S. Senate action this week. If approved, it would take precedent over a recent federal court decision overturning nonresident limitations in Arizona, as well as a pending 10th Circuit Court case that would apply to Colorado.
This continuing legal tug over the way states impose limits on nonresident access to hunting licenses is but one aspect of what has become the most riveting issue in big-game management – that of who gets the most desirable tags.
In Colorado, this skirmish line divides most prominently over the matter of commercial hunting, particularly as it applies to landowner preference. Created by the legislature at the behest of large land holders, this device reserves 15 percent of all specified licenses issued by draw for deer, elk and pronghorn right off the top, before public hunters ever get a bite at the apple.
Preference tags may be used anywhere inside the designated game management unit, not just private land. They typically are sold – most often to nonresidents – for thousands of dollars. Others are peddled to outfitters for sale to the highest bidder.
More recently, these commercial interests petitioned for an even larger slice of the pie, touching off an uprising among public hunters that prompted the current dialogue.
Convened by the Division of Wildlife as the Licence Allocation Working Group, this convocation of 15 stakeholders will hold the second of its scheduled three serious sessions this weekend at the Buena Vista Community Center. It will meet at 3 p.m. Friday, then reconvene at 8 a.m. Saturday, both open to public observation.
An earlier meeting evolved chiefly as a brainstorming session. This next discussion should coalesce into firm ideas and, very likely, a clash of interests.
Curiously, LAWG features a lineup of six sportsmen, four landowner/agriculture representatives and two outfitters – a dead-even balance between those who hunt for fun and those who utilize wildlife for profit. Add three other delegates from local government/small business, and we actually have a preponderance of stakeholders whose primary interest in wildlife concerns money.
When the third and final conference is finished June 17-18, the concepts that evolve will gain more complete exposure through a series of eight public meetings, two in each geographic region, probably in late July.
Meanwhile, you’ll find many of the proposals posted on a link to the DOW Web page wildlife.state.co.us/hunt/biggame/license_allocation/. Individual also may post their comments at the e-mail address licenseallocation.wildlife@state.co.us.
Ultimately, the Colorado Wildlife Commission will determine which action, if any, will be taken about a variety of issues – from vouchers to nonresident percentage to preference points. This policy body has made plain it wants creative thinking to emerge from this process, a vision that suggests a variety of options.
Failing some meaningful resolution, various stakeholders are waiting in the wings with threats of more serious remedy, ranging from further legislative action to ballot initiatives.
One way or another, news on these issues will be months in the making.
Listen to Charlie Meyers at 9 a.m. each Saturday on “The Fan Outdoors,” radio KKFN 950 AM. He can be reached at 303-820-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com.
