GAMELINE'S NEWS

1) 65/35 Split. In all actuality it means 55:30:15. And if you take out the
state-wide average of 14% of the licenses that are PLO (Private Land Only that
are not subject to the 65/35 cap, resident hunters are only guaranteed only 46%
of the total limited license pool (15 licenses Landowner Licenses + 14 PLO licenses =
29 licenses. 100 – 29 licenses = 71 licenses x 65% = 46 licenses) By legislative action,
the Landowners convinced our elected officials to pass a statute guaranteeing them
15% of all limited licenses for deer, elk, and antelope. The CDOW then designates
a percentage of limited licenses as PLO (This varies by unit and species.
The statewide average is 14%, but PLO licenses can run up to 90% or more
for some unit/species). Also, the landowner can sell their vouchers to
non-resident or resident and the PLO licenses require permission to hunt on
private land – which in today’s commercial hunting atmosphere usually requires
purchase of trespass privileges. So Landowners in actuality control an average
of 29% of the limited licenses. The increase from 60% resident allocation to 65% allocation, passed by the Wildlife Commission in the fall of 2005, meant that about 1400 licenses out of about 312,000 total licenses sold, would actually have changed hands, based on actual allocations for resident/non-resident from the preceding year. That is an actual 0.4% increase in resident licenses (not a 5.0% increase).

2) Colorado Residents (prior to the 2005 fee bill) currently pay more in total license fee revenues that any other western state, yet they rank a distant third in the total number of big game licenses issued to residents (387,879 to 819,506 - Montana #1). This is in spite of the fact that Colorado sells unlimited over the counter elk tags. What this means is that many of the residents of other western states enjoy having more big game licenses per individual than Colorado residents do. (USFWS website 2002).

3) The current Wildlife Commission and the CDOW have done nothing to improve resident hunting opportunities in this state in the past 5 years. This is in spite of the fact that the Commission received a petition signed by 2,194 sportspeople, requesting an 80/20 split (this would be 68% of the total limited draw licenses under current allocation system) on all limited draw deer, elk, and antelope licenses. Two of the Commission seats are designated as, "Sportsman’s seats." These two seats currently are occupied by ??? and Dick Ray (a Colorado Outfitter), appointees of Governor Owens. Rick Enstrom (Candy Factory Owner) and Ray’s predecessor, Benard Black (a Denver attorney) opposed the 80/20 split, along with the other 7 Commissioners. Maybe the 2,194 signers of the petition were not considered sportspeople by Mr. Enstrom and Mr. Black.

4) One of the most important reasons as to why the CDOW, Wildlife Commission, and your elected officials have refused to budge on resident/non-resident limitations is the status granted to the CDOW by the legislature several years ago. The CDOW is one of a very few government agencies that has been given Enterprise status by the legislature. This means that the CDOW is entitled to run as a business and not a government agency. They are not subject to TABOR and raise all of their own monies to run their business. So why does any business exist? To make money! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure which one of these widgets a business will go after. A $500 non-resident elk widget or a $45 resident elk widget. Of course the state constitution states that the Wildlife belong to the residents of the state. And you as a resident do pay taxes here. And you as a resident do support the businesses of this state year round. But remember, none of that revenue goes to the CDOW, only license fees. No wonder the residents as well as the Wildlife suffer by this state endorsed business.

5) The Wildlife Commission is not answerable to anyone for their actions. These political appointees of the governor have no one to watch or oversee their actions. They are not elected. These seats on the Wildlife Commission have become political plumbs for the power-hungry elite, and have little to do with qualifications, abilities, or inclinations to relate to or represent the people they are appointed to represent. Do a rich candy empire baron, a Denver Attorney, and a Colorado Outfitter have much in common with the average hunter of this state? Recommendations for the Commission come from the CDOW and Head of DNR (Department of Natural Resources). Recent appointments have been a large landowner/outfitter heavily financed by pay for hunting, an outfitter, and an appointee from Craig – the Outfitter capitol of Colorado. Who do you think the CDOW wants in control of making decisions that dictate what opportunities hunters will be granted?

6) Resident Hunters have the vote. Most do not have the land or the money resources (businesses). That is all we have. We don’t vote for the Wildlife Commission or the CDOW employees. That is why we have such a hard time getting them to listen to the average resident hunter. We only vote for the elected officials. That is who we can influence. If each of us chooses not to get involved and not try to influence our elected officials, we have only ourselves to blame. A recent survey on the west slope showed an almost 95% positive response by participants when asked if they would vote for a politician that would support increased resident opportunity. Meanwhile, we continue to lose ground in our hunting opportunities and experiences, as tax paying residents of Colorado.

7) Sportsman’s Advisory Group (SAG) does not represent the majority of the resident hunters of this state. The CDOW sponsored SAG’s met across the state to devise the fee bill. If you were not in support of the fee bill you were not invited to the SAG meetings. The CDOW has made the statement that the SAG represents you. Yet attendance at these periodic meetings held in different locations across the state, often times show total participation in the single digits.

8) CDOW license revenues have outstripped inflation by approximately 20 percent since 1983. The CDOW spending has also outstripped the inflation rate. Doesn’t this seem like a business out of control? (USFWS website 2002)

9) When the state of Colorado becomes completely draw for all big game species (yes, it will happen), then you as a resident hunter will have to decide if you want to hunt elk every year, or not hunt elk for several years to have a chance to gain a coveted tag in a trophy unit. These years of plentiful wildlife resources will end and where will your hunting opportunities be then? Then only the rich in this state will be able to pay to participate on a regular basis.

10) The Habitat Stamp. This caused some sportspeople to buy into the whole fee bill and garnered testimony and support from non-hunting groups such as the Sierra Club and some Denver-based hiking groups. Their testimony was instrumental in getting the whole package passed by the legislature. What isn’t well known is that you as a hunter/sportsperson are paying the lion’s share of the habitat stamp. The habitat stamp is mandatory with the purchase of your first two annual hunting/fishing licenses. A habitat stamp is also mandatory for access to State Wildlife Properties. It is an optional purchase for all others. After the first year of the habitat stamp, mandatory purchases by non-sportspeople were accounting for less than 1 percent of the total revenues. Yet the same non-sportspeople groups were given 2 of the 9 seats on the Habitat Stamp Committee (reward for their testimony), the group that makes recommendations to the Wildlife Commission on where to spend your habitat stamp money. This habitat stamp was "needed" by the CDOW because they didn’t have any funds to purchase habitat. The same CDOW which has double the next nearest western state (8 states in all) in total license fee revenues prior to this bill’s passage. When all is said and done, you still don’t have anymore opportunity.

11) If you belong to a sporting group in the state, you need to check to see how your group is representing your interests with regard to this bill and resident opportunities. A few prominent groups actively supported this bill. Other groups chose not to oppose this bill for fear of loss of CDOW granted opportunities (e.g. governor’s tags, season restrictions, seats on special committees). Maybe you belong to one of them and haven’t been made aware of your representative’s actions or lack thereof.

12) The 15% Landowner Vouchers are good on public Land as well as private. The Landowner Voucher system was set up for large landowners (minimum 160 acres). These vouchers are good anywhere in the unit that they are issued for. Until recently, these vouchers could be bought or sold an unlimited amount of times and involving any number of individuals. Frequently, individuals purchasing these vouchers were also told they could not hunt the private land where the voucher originated without paying an additional trespass fee. Individuals using the voucher system were also able to utilize the preference point system at the same time. So these privileged individuals could hunt in limited draw unit scenarios while also competing directly with "blue collar" hunters in the open preference point system.

USFWS (U.S. Fish and Wldf.) web site address: http://fa.r9.fws.gov/license%20holders/Hunting%20License%20Data%20History.pdf