Hunting Rights - Rocky Mountain Voice

McCombie: Initiative 82 revives push to restrict hunting, override expert conservation

Colorado anti-hunters are making yet another push to wrest control of that state’s wildlife from wildlife professionals. This time, it is the recently proposed Ballot Initiative 82, the “Colorado Wildlife & Biodiversity Protection Act.”

At its core, Initiative 82 would create an independent commission parallel to the current Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission. This independent commission would then draw up legal protections for unnamed “keystone species” and assess financial penalties for any violations of these protections.

Activism over science? Proposed ballot measure #82 would gut CPW authority, opponents say

Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, State, Top Stories / May 27, 2025 / Ballot Initiative, Ballot-box Biology, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Conservation Policy, Hunting Rights, Private Property Rights, Science-Based Management, Tax policy, Wildlife and Ecosystem Conservation Commission

Critics across Colorado’s hunting, ranching, and wildlife management communities are sounding the alarm over a 2026 ballot measure they say could upend science-based conservation and rural land rights.

Initiative #82, called the Colorado Wildlife and Biodiversity Protection Act, would create a new regulatory body, the Wildlife and Ecosystem Conservation Commission (WECC). The commission would hold far-reaching powers over endangered species protections, wildlife corridors, land use, and even Colorado Parks and Wildlife itself.

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