It might surprise some to know I don鈥檛 eat meat every day. Beans are cheaper, and I have a ready supply of eggs from my hens. More importantly, I鈥檓 working to eliminate from my diet meat from industrial farms where animals live short lives caged in crowded, sunless concrete and steel.
A few times a week, I reach into the deep freezer for locally sourced beef, fish, or game meat. I鈥檓 grateful for the nourishment deer, elk, antelope, and wild fowl provide and for the hunter friends who donate the meat. One of several reasons I am voting for the is to protect the ability of these Colorado hunters and anglers to put meat on the supper table.
Colorado鈥檚 300,000 hunters and 950,000 anglers don鈥檛 just provide sustenance for their families and friends; they benefit the state in other ways. In addition to providing $3.25 billion in economic impact and support for thousands of jobs, hunting and fishing fund wildlife conservation through licenses, tags, and taxes, and help the state manage wild animal populations.
Without management, game species are vulnerable to starvation and disease 鈥� nature鈥檚 way of population control. The initiative does not forbid the use of secondary management tools like relocation and birth control; it just ensures that hunting and fishing remain the preferred means of responsible management.
In fact, the initiative does not limit the authority of Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) or the General Assembly to regulate hunting and fishing 鈥渇or sound scientific wildlife conservation and management, public safety, or to preserve the future of hunter and fishing opportunities for all species statewide.鈥� They will continue to determine seasons, number of licenses and other licensing requirements and safety guidelines. Trespassing on private property or the hunting of non-game species, endangered species, or any species prohibited by federal law will still be illegal.
Colorado isn鈥檛 the only state considering adopting such an amendment at this time. The Oregon Attorney General began drafting a similar initiative after voters turned in the requisite number of signatures. Earlier this year, activists threatened to introduce a measure to criminalize hunting and fishing.
While activists have not threatened to directly eliminate fishing and hunting, groups representing sportsmen and women in Colorado are worried the CPW Commission, the governor-appointed citizen board that oversees the agency鈥檚 policies over parks and wildlife, could favor activists鈥� interests in the future over those of hunters and fishermen and women depending on who is appointed.
During the last session, a Colorado Senate committee refused to confirm two of the governor鈥檚 appointees to the sportsmen-designated seats because of such concerns. What will happen if the chamber doesn鈥檛 do its due diligence next time? A constitutional amendment is needed to ensure that Colorado fishermen and women and hunters continue to have a seat at the table.
Rick Enstrom, who served eight years on the CPW commission and three terms as chairman, told me he is concerned: 鈥淕enerations of families that hunt and fish for enjoyment and sustenance have been backed into a corner by nameless, faceless political newcomers opposed to this traditional lifestyle.鈥�
My friend is voting for the amendment not just to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing for the future, but to maintain funding provided by hunters and anglers for conservation, and to ensure 鈥渨ildlife in Colorado is properly managed by biologists and professionals.鈥�
I will be joining him. Some of my fondest childhood memories with my dad are of hunting pheasant and fishing for trout. I, too, want to ensure the next generation will have the same opportunities. In the meantime, this amendment will protect me, even though I neither hunt or fish (I鈥檓 terrible at it), as I ditch factory farms for ethical and sustainable sources of sustenance.
Krista Kafer is a Sunday Denver Post columnist.
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