With characteristic modesty, Tom Remington claims he “probably wasn’t much of a researcher” – a trait that in retrospect makes him eminently more qualified to supervise the increasingly complex panoply of Colorado’s wildlife.
Although he has a doctoral degree and a quarter century of research experience to suggest otherwise, the 11th director in the 112-year history of the Colorado Division of Wildlife claims he lacked the tunnel vision required for such intense scientific inquiry.
“I wasn’t focused on a specific problem. I was always interested in everything,” said Remington, whose ability to juggle a large list of difficult and growing problems will be put to the supreme test.
Remington, who more recently commanded the agency’s terrestrial section, has no delusions about the scope of the position.
“When you think about the broad expanse of Colorado’s wildlife resource, how many people do it, that’s all my responsibility now. It’s a humbling challenge.”
Perhaps no other incoming director has faced such an array of issues:
* Rampant energy development in the Roan and Piceance areas of northwest Colorado, game-rich territory where road building and related disturbance destroys habitat and disrupts migration routes.
The turmoil doesn’t stop there. Recent lease initiatives in Middle Park, North Park and in southwest Colorado suggest that few regions are immune from energy exploration.
* A continuing population boom across much of the state gobbles up real estate for housing and resort development. This trend not only removes critical big-game winter range, but also squeezes waterfowl and small-game hunting in the northeast.
* Poaching, much of it linked to transient energy workers, has grown proportionately.
* Declining participation in both hunting and fishing, a trend Colorado shares with the nation as a whole.
* Creeping commercialization of big-game hunting, making it more difficult for lower-income sportsmen to access desirable opportunities. This concern is linked to the use of high-dollar landowner vouchers on public land in direct competition with public hunters.
* A companion scramble for prime fishing on streams, where pressure on the better public areas nears the breaking point.
The list could be expanded to include a broader range of lesser affairs, any of which could vault into the spotlight.
Remington suffers no delusions of solving these quickly, if at all. Of the loss of habitat to development, he says flatly, “It’s a problem that will remain with the next director beyond me.”
He might easily have said the same about the energy boom and any number of unmentioned matters that seem to have spun out of control. But Remington has his sights squarely fixed on certain goals he deems attainable. His first mention was retention and recruitment, a priority he shares with Tom Burke, chairman of the Wildlife Commission.
“You don’t start someone elk hunting as a beginning outdoor activity,” Remington reasoned. “Maybe it’s just a camping trip to start, then a building of interests.”
The director cited the Walk-In access program, which he helped launch, as an example of ways to ease the entry into small-game hunting. Expect more attention to similar ideas.
“If a father isn’t having a good experience hunting or fishing, it’s unlikely he’ll introduce his child to the sport,” he said.
Remington also promises expanded emphasis on easier availability of statistical information — success rates and preference point requirements by units — along with better maps and information about state wildlife areas and trust lands.
As for the much-discussed matter of landowner vouchers, he called it a “very touchy subject,” adding, “I don’t think the arrangement is working for anyone.”
Remington noted that voucher reform would require legislative change. “We’ll have to address it in the near future.”
As a pet peeve, he listed what he termed an overemphasis on trophies at the expense of the broader outdoor experience.
“Everything is defined by big. I’m troubled by deer and elk hunting in particular, both for commercialization and for the thing about trophies.”
As for what to do about this and other issues, Remington doesn’t claim to possess silver bullets.
“If anyone else does, I’d like to hear from them.”
Charlie Meyers: 303-954-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com
Remington’s sights are set on an array of targets
Tom Remington, the new director of the Colorado Division of Wildlife, faces several challenges:
1
Colorado’s continuing population boom has gobbled up real estate for housing and resort development, which has removed critical big-game winter range.
2
Maintaining youth programs will play a key role in countering declining participation in both hunting and fishing, a trend Colorado shares with the nation as a whole.
3
Energy development in northwest Colorado poses a major challenge to the maintenance of wildlife values.
4
A scramble for prime fishing on streams has created crowded conditions in the better public areas.
