Club Working with Partners to Defeat Colorado Proposition 127

The Club has been helping our partners in Colorado to fight “ballot box biology” where Proposition 127 seeks to ban the hunting of mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx in the state.

By Jodi Stemler

If passed not only would these activities be banned (and it’s important to note that no harvest of lynx is legal in the state as they are state endangered and federally threatened species) but the potential for activists targeting other legal hunting in the future is very likely. As is often the case, B&C regular and professional members are leading the way in the fight against this ill-conceived referendum as organizers of the Colorado’s Wildlife Deserve Better campaign.

We notified Club membership of this proposition in a late August email, then in early October, we hosted a webinar to let our members know what was going on and how the Club is helping out and how individual members could contribute. Campaign manager and professional member Mark Truax gave the briefing and professional member Ryan Bronson representing the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation talked about partner engagement.

On October 12, a guest opinion we crafted with regular member Arlene Hanson ran in the Colorado Springs Gazette calling on the need for science-based wildlife management. Later that week, B&C was represented by Truax as well as Casey and Jodi Stemler during a rally on the steps of the Colorado State House that brought together hundreds of sportsmen and women with a strong message to Vote No on Proposition 127. To see a short recap of the event, check out this video on Instagram created by the Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management coalition.

We are all waiting for the final decision on this proposition and hope that Colorado voters, even those who do not hunt, will realize how important it is to allow professional managers to make the decisions on what tools they need to use to successfully manage our wildlife.