Colorado Wildlife Conservation Project: 

Position Statement on proposition 127: Mountain Lion and Bobcat Hunting Ban 

The future of Colorado’s wildlife management is at a crossroads. The underpinnings of science-based wildlife management administered by Colorado Parks and Wildlife will be on the ballot this November, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Animal rights activists gathered enough signatures to place a question on the 2024 Colorado state-wide ballot asking voters to prohibit the legal, limited, hunter harvest of mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx in the state. Proposition 127 follows several failed attempts to ban the harvest of mountain lions and bobcats through the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission and the Colorado State Legislature. If successful, this ballot initiative would prohibit the regulated hunting of mountain lions and bobcats, and end a time-proven, successful, and highly-regulated method of wildlife management, removing decisions about wildlife management from trained wildlife experts.

Colorado’s mountain lion and bobcat populations are thriving. Our mountain lion population has flourished since 1965, when they were classified as a big game species. Similarly, bobcats are the most prevalent wild cat in the state, and populations are robust. Managing mountain lions and bobcats to secure their coexistence in Colorado is crucial to their survival. Lynx are already protected by both state and federal law, with hunting and trapping prohibited. 

Wildlife in Colorado are managed sustainably, in delicate balance with their habitats and other wildlife species. Many Colorado wildlife species, including mountain lions and bobcats, were once rare or threatened with extinction. Today, their populations are abundant due to science-based wildlife management and regulated hunting with extensive requirements for using ethical harvest methods.

Science-based management coupled with conservation revenue derived from hunting and fishing licenses has resulted in healthy and sustainable wildlife populations, held in the public trust to benefit present and future generations. Conservation revenue from license sales also provides the vast majority of Colorado Parks and Wildlife's funding for wildlife management, education, law enforcement, and other programs that benefit all wildlife species.

Traditional wildlife uses are deeply rooted in our Colorado lifestyle and provide ecological benefits and cultural connections. Wildlife plays an essential role in our physical well-being, relationship with nature, social connections, spiritual lives, and local and state economies. For mountain lion and bobcat hunters, the ethical, sustainable harvest of Colorado’s wild cats provides nutrient-rich food and deep connections to Colorado’s wild places.

The Colorado Wildlife Conservation Project (CWCP) supports regulated and ethical wildlife harvest for legitimate purposes as a basic tenet of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Regulated hunter harvest is the best tool available to Colorado Parks and Wildlife for managing Colorado’s huntable wildlife populations.

Colorado’s legislative mandate as defined by law in Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S.) 33-1-101 (1) It is the policy of the state of Colorado that the wildlife and their environment are to be protected, preserved, enhanced, and managed for the use, benefit, and enjoyment of the people of this state and its visitors. . . C.R.S. 33-1-101(4) further declares: The state shall utilize hunting, trapping, and fishing as the primary methods of effecting necessary wildlife harvests.

CWCP recognizes that science-based wildlife management decisions help avoid unintended consequences for people, other species and the entire ecosystem. Colorado’s current science-based regulations carefully consider mountain lion and bobcat biology, habitat, and natural history; and lynx are already protected by both state and federal law. These regulations have resulted in the healthy, abundant mountain lion, bobcat, and lynx populations we have today.

CWCP supports healthy, state-wide mountain lion and bobcat populations using sustainable, regulated hunting as the primary tool to achieve those goals. Extensive laws already in place ensure the legal and ethical harvest of Colorado’s wildlife. We encourage all Coloradans who care about wildlife to unite in opposition to this hunting ban because it is not in the best interest of Colorado’s wildlife. It threatens conservation, wildlife populations, Colorado traditions, and science-based wildlife management.

#####

CWCP is a diverse alliance of wildlife organizations with a common interest in conserving wildlife and their habitats and preserving our hunting and angling traditions. CWCP is dedicated to continuing Colorado’s long history of responsible, science-based wildlife management.