By now, Paul West of Fort Collins has heard plenty from the online community regarding his proposal to place a moratorium on deer hunting in order to boost deer herds in decline in Colorado ).
What he hasn’t heard, apparently, is the science.
“This inclination to artificially adjust population numbers shows why it is dangerous to rely on hunting to manage wildlife,” West wrote. “If deer numbers are dropping, the sensible thing to do is to stop issuing hunting licenses until the numbers warrant otherwise.”
West’s point is not entirely void of validity. In fact, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has for years done just what the letter writer suggested in some of the far western hunting units seeing the majority of the . And if the moratorium on deer tags has proved anything, it’s that hunting is not the root of the decline.
“In Unit 10 (near Dinosaur), we haven’t issued doe licenses for 15, 20 years, and that population still hasn’t come back,” CPW’s northwest regional manager Ron Velarde told the Parks and Wildlife Commission earlier this month. “So it’s not about killing does. There are other issues out there.”
When it comes to familiar animals like deer, it’s easy to fall prey to reactionary thinking on both sides of the hunting fence. While some who view deer as traditional big- game quarry have suggested that controlling predator populations, specifically coyotes, would help herd numbers rebound, those opinions don’t constitute a majority.
Meanwhile, West’s statement that ” … deer herds could recover quite nicely by placing a moratorium on recreational hunting” is equally ill-conceived.
Big-game manager Andy Holland explains why: “Despite drastic reductions in a lot of these license numbers, herds continue to decline, which tells us that license numbers are not driving these declines. I know there are a lot of differing beliefs and views on this issue, but from a scientific standpoint, I feel like we’ve done a fair amount of very rigorous research on the topic of limitation of mule deer herds, and I’m more comfortable with research on factors that limit mule deer herds than just about any other aspects of our big-game management. And this extensive research on the Western Slope has shown that winter habitat quality and quantity limits mule deer herds.
“Therefore, setting appropriate population objectives and issuing appropriate doe licenses when herds are at or near their habitat capability are critical for deer management in western Colorado and the rest of the state.”
In other words, it’s not a coyote-vs.-hunter issue. It’s a habitat issue.
Among the basic tenets of wildlife management is the principle of “carrying capacity” within animal habitat. In essence, there’s only enough food, water, cover and space to sustain a certain number of animals.
In western Colorado, the impacts of drought on browse shrub species that mule deer depend upon are still being felt from a decade ago, and the impacts of big snow winters more recently have added to the toll. Declining habitat quality from invasive weeds and fire suppression combined with habitat loss due to development and fragmentation of migration corridors further upset the balance.
CPW is tasked with returning that balance. But while the state’s wildlife belongs to the people of Colorado, the agency does not receive state tax money and has long relied on the sale of hunting and fishing licenses to pay for wildlife management. Elk and deer licenses historically provide more than half of license revenue, and license revenue accounts for a lopsided majority of the division’s overall budget.
Then there’s the purchase of habitat stamps required with almost all hunting and fishing licenses, which has raised more than $3 million a year since their introduction in 2006, all of it dedicated to protecting wildlife habitat.
So, no, hunters are not the problem. And in some ways, they may actually provide the solution.
Scott Willoughby: 303-954-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com
