They came from all walks of life and from across Colorado. Hundreds of citizens, including members and volunteers from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, gathered on the west steps of the Capitol building in Denver to speak out against a reckless anti-hunting ballot box biology initiative that would frustrate proven wildlife management.
“RMEF has a mission to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and our hunting heritage. Proposition 127 runs counter to our mission. The ‘other wildlife’ part of our mission includes mountain lions and bobcats. We don’t hate lions. We just want to keep managing them scientifically the way we have been for 50 years,” said Luke Wiedel, RMEF volunteer from Colorado, who addressed the rally.
Proposition 127, funded largely by out-of-state interests, seeks to ban the hunting of mountain lions and bobcats. It would also ban lynx hunting, however that is irrelevant since doing so is already against the law in every state but Alaska.
“It is clear that the professional anti-hunters who are funding and running this campaign won’t stop with lions. They want to end all hunting by humans, so today it is lions, but bighorn sheep, elk and deer are not far behind,” said Wiedel (pictured speaking on left).
Biologists and other Colorado Parks and Wildlife professionals (CPW) are restricted by state statute from publicly commenting on the subject, although the state agency issued an FAQ in early 2024 that says Colorado’s mountain lion population is “strong, abundant and not biologically threatened.”
Former longtime CPW carnivore biologist Jerry Apker, who helped formulate successful mountain lion and bobcat management strategies during his 38 years of service, recently wrote an opinion piece published by media outlets across the state.
“Proposition 127 will irreparably harm wild felid management by banning hunting, the best tool to manage these populations. Prop. 127 would also harm the agency and its professionals who have dedicated their lives to maintaining healthy and abundant wildlife in Colorado,” wrote Apker. “Phrases like ‘trophy hunting’ and ‘unethical hunting’ are the stock in trade of extremists that seek to defeat our scientific wildlife management through misinformation. The fact is hunting just for a trophy and leaving meat to waste has been a felony violation in Colorado since I began my career as a wildlife officer. Conversely, lion hunters are legally required to care for lion meat just as they would if they hunted and killed a deer.”
“RMEF would rather be raising money and investing in habitat, but anti-hunters have forced us to join this fight. We are not backing down. RMEF encourages its members and everyone that values wildlife in Colorado to vote NO on 127,” added Wiedel.
There are more than 14,000 RMEF members (including those pictured to the left and right) and 29 chapters across Colorado that raise funding to put back on the ground in a state where the conservation organization has a long and active history and one that also has the largest elk population in North America.
Dating back to 1987, RMEF and its partners completed 894 conservation and hunting heritage outreach projects in Colorado with a combined value of nearly 210 million dollars. Those projects conserved or enhanced 509,999 acres of habitat and opened or improved public access to 120,252 acres.
As a testament to its three-and-a-half-decade commitment, RMEF and its partners will soon announce the allotment of $3.5 million in 2024 grant funding to benefit elk, other wildlife, conservation and hunting in the Centennial State.
(Photo credit: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)
