Who opposes Colorado Amendment 83 ?

The people who understand Colorado wildlife management do.

Don’t let cruelty

become protected

by our Constitution

NO on 83

Trust CPW

This is not about hunting. Hunting is already legal in Colorado.

This is about hunters and trappers controlling wildlife policy.

Amendment 83 will place wildlife management language into our Constitution, taking the power to make science-based decisions away from Colorado Parks & Wildlife biologists. Our Constitution will mandate that hunting be the preferred method of wildlife management in Colorado. It will be Constitutional law that CPW biologist turn to hunting. Over coexistence measures, over non-lethal control, and over addressing root causes such as habitat improvement.

Amendment 83 allows for hunting and trapping by “traditional methods”. This opens the door to the use of cruel steel jaw leg-hold traps and snares, wildlife killing contests, and hound hunting and baiting of bears, all of which have been outlawed in Colorado. Once in our state Constitution, local governments and voters will have no control over their own wildlife management. The federal government recently cleared the way for M-44 cyanide devices (“cyanide bombs”) to return to public lands. This constitutional amendment would make it impossible for Colorado voters to restrict the devices in our state.

If Amendment 83 passes, hunting will be the only Constitutionally protected recreational activity. This will elevate hunting and trapping over other outdoor sports such as hiking, mountain biking, snow shoeing, rafting, and bird watching. Hunters may challenge local firearms zoning restrictions, private land ordinances, and activity prioritization, as the right to hunt will fall under the protection of the state’s highest law, above all else.

Amendment 83 will open the state up to lawsuits and legal confusion, at the expense of tax payers. It will place undefined terms such as “traditional methods” and “necessary” into our Constitution, which may lead to litigation costs when these terms require interpretation by agencies as hunters challenge existing restrictions.

Amendment 83 will mandate that CPW allow the hunting of populations that may not need their numbers reduced. This hunting would be purely recreational and not based on scientific wildlife management. It would be in the interest of hunters and trappers, not in the interest of the wildlife. CPW would only be empowered to ban the hunting of a threatened species once it is listed as endangered. This listing process takes years, during which the species would still be subjected to recreational hunting and over-harvesting.

Who is behind Amendment 83?

Meet Dan Gates.

Dan Gates is the National Trappers and Furtakers Director at the Colorado Trappers and Predator Hunters Association.

He is the architect of Amendment 83, working with Safari Club International hunters, and the dark-money group Advance Colorado.

In a story published August 24, Gates told the Cowboy State Daily that he is pushing Amendment 83 to bring back bear baiting, hound hunting, and spring bear hunting in the state.

Amendment 83 is funded by Wisconsin-based pro-hunting lobbying organization The International Order of T. Roosevelt.

Advance Colorado is a conservative dark-money group that spent millions of dollars to take advantage of our citizen initiative ballot process to push their agenda in this election.

A person holding a dead beaver in a metal trap.

Courtesy of WhoIsAdvanceColorado.org

Amendment 83": No.

State law already makes hunting and fishing primary tools of wildlife management.

An undefined right to “traditional methods” puts

bans on bear baiting and leg hold traps at risk.

A young deer with white spots on its back and large ears standing in a wooded area with trees and bushes.

“Colorado voters should never be asked to give up their ability to shape wildlife policy simply because a special interest wants its preferred policies placed beyond the reach of fundamental democratic debate.”

-Michelle Lute, PhD and executive director with Wildlife for All

State statutes already provide for the right to hunt and fish, subject to Colorado Parks & Wildlife regulation, and existing law gives hunting, trapping and fishing an important role in wildlife management. If passed, this measure would add unnecessary duplicative language to the state constitution, while curtailing the ability of the General Assembly and the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Commission to respond to unforeseen circumstances or adopt improved practices.

- League of Women Voters of Colorado