Colorado “Managing Wildlife in an Era of Mutualism.”

[bayoublaster7527]

Polis, CSU Pathways conference to focus on shifting values in wildlife management - Warner College of Natural Resources

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis will speak briefly June 1 at Colorado State University during the Pathways: Human Dimensions of Wildlife conference.

warnercnr.source.colostate.edu

Saw this article talking about Colorado moving its wildlife management into an “era of mutualism” due to changing values in the state.

“societal values toward wildlife have shifted in the United States toward more of a “mutualist” perspective, meaning people are more focused on wildlife protection and compassionate management”

Difficult to not be alarmed as a hunter. This type of discussion can signal that the heavily urban voting majority has decided that hunting is socially unacceptable and the NAM should be replaced with a more compassionate wildlife management model. Any HuntTalkers have more info on the conference or possibly attended? Is it as bad as it sounds?

 

[aj427ci]

Polis is doing everything he can to ruin this state. It’s getting hard to watch. My family has lived in the Uncompahgre valley for over 120 years. It’s hard to leave but in 4 years my youngest will graduate and me and my wife will probably be leaving this state and moving to the most conservative state left if there is any left by that time.

 

[LuketheDog]

It is alarming, his husband is a big time animal rights activist and Polis is certainly a wolf in sheep's clothing. Colorado is circling the drain...

 

[marksjeep]

The director of that CSU program is an animal rights activist as well, hand picked by Polis for her former CDA position.

 

[perma]

*krrrrrk*

Paging Professor @Oak

 

[Oak]

*krrrrrk*

Paging Professor @Oak

No comment. I didn't learn of the conference until last Friday.

 

[wolfpup]

What a crock! The front range is killing us on this political pick. Wildlife Mutualism .... who the hell thinks of these ideas? Between the disconnect in Agriculture and Sportsman, Polis has done irreversible damage!

 

[Oak]

This is not really any different than the 14-page discussion we had last fall:

A brawl brewing in spokane?

There is a lot to unpack here. I don't completely disagree with the non hunting side of things, my problem is that I 100% don't trust them to work together with hunters in good faith. @neffa3 @Hunting Wife opinions...

www.hunttalk.com

 

[bayoublaster7527]

This is not really any different than the 14-page discussion we had last fall:

A brawl brewing in spokane?

There is a lot to unpack here. I don't completely disagree with the non hunting side of things, my problem is that I 100% don't trust them to work together with hunters in good faith. @neffa3 @Hunting Wife opinions...

www.hunttalk.com

Exactly. Pretty scary stuff, wildlife management in Colorado could go the direction of Washington with pro-hunting advocates pushed out of the wildlife commission in favor of vocal anti-hunting activists, all in the name of “mutualism”. Just another reminder we need every single Colorado hunter engaged with the CPW commission and their elected representatives.

 

[MtnElk]

What has fascinated me about the non hunting public is how many of them eat meat. So its more ethical to breed and keep an animal in captivity, than it is to let an animal live its natural born life until the very last breath when a hunter successfully harvests said animal? I get vegan anti hunters... but meat eating anti hunters are the most confusing group of all. I worry though, that the non hunting public is not aware of the challenge of western hunting and instead likens it to certain midwest states where they practically beg you to shoot a doe in addition to your buck tag.

The question is, can we hang on for a few more years until a hopefully more moderate governor takes his place?

 

[MtnElk]

This right here is why I believe conservation groups need to do a way better job of reaching out to and engaging with the "hunting adjacent" populations. Hunters alone aren't going to be able to stave off this wave if it comes down to ballot box biology.

 

[COHunter67]

He's starting early for re-election

 

[SAJ-99]

Polis, CSU Pathways conference to focus on shifting values in wildlife management - Warner College of Natural Resources

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis will speak briefly June 1 at Colorado State University during the Pathways: Human Dimensions of Wildlife conference.

warnercnr.source.colostate.edu

Saw this article talking about Colorado moving its wildlife management into an “era of mutualism” due to changing values in the state.

“societal values toward wildlife have shifted in the United States toward more of a “mutualist” perspective, meaning people are more focused on wildlife protection and compassionate management”

Difficult to not be alarmed as a hunter. This type of discussion can signal that the heavily urban voting majority has decided that hunting is socially unacceptable and the NAM should be replaced with a more compassionate wildlife management model. Any HuntTalkers have more info on the conference or possibly attended? Is it as bad as it sounds?

Just ask them to pony up the money to buy and manage the habitat these species depend on for survival. That should take care of the discussion. Or point out that the end result will be watching Vail take over prime sheep wintering habitat for worker housing.

 

[elkduds]

He's starting early for re-election

For what? Can't be Guv again, term limited. Which means sportspeople can have a voice in the process of choosing next Dem and GOP candidates.

 

[appaloosa]

What has fascinated me about the non hunting public is how many of them eat meat. So its more ethical to breed and keep an animal in captivity, than it is to let an animal live its natural born life until the very last breath when a hunter successfully harvests said animal? I get vegan anti hunters... but meat eating anti hunters are the most confusing group of all. I worry though, that the non hunting public is not aware of the challenge of western hunting and instead likens it to certain midwest states where they practically beg you to shoot a doe in addition to your buck tag.

The question is, can we hang on for a few more years until a hopefully more moderate governor takes his place?

I think you are confusing the terms "non-hunter" and "anti-hunter". The two terms are not synonymous. The vast majority of Americans are non-hunters that generally support hunting, particularly hunting for food. They just choose to get their protein somewhere else, i.e. domestic animals. A small segment of non-hunters are what you can actually call anti-hunters. They are staunchly opposed to hunting, and tend to be the most vocal.
The real work of hunters and conservation groups is not to try to sway the anti-hunters, but continue to appeal to the non-hunters. They are the vast majority, and the ones who will largely be dictating wildlife policy into the future.

 

[MtnElk]

I think you are confusing the terms "non-hunter" and "anti-hunter". The two terms are not synonymous. The vast majority of Americans are non-hunters that generally support hunting, particularly hunting for food. They just choose to get their protein somewhere else, i.e. domestic animals. A small segment of non-hunters are what you can actually call anti-hunters. They are staunchly opposed to hunting, and tend to be the most vocal.
The real work of hunters and conservation groups is not to try to sway the anti-hunters, but continue to appeal to the non-hunters. They are the vast majority, and the ones who will largely be dictating wildlife policy into the future.

Yeah I meant to write anti hunters in the first sentence.

 

[Cogreeny]

Effffffff polis and his husband.

 

[wolfpup]

The question is, can we hang on for a few more years until a hopefully more moderate governor takes his place?

That very statement is what worries me. I have had many chats about even if a new governor comes in, can any of it be reversed? Off topic but the tax changes, the so called sick pay, payroll laws, etc. all outside of the sportsman's arena, but Wolves, Agriculture, and this so called mutualism concept. Hunters and Fisherman as a whole are by far the biggest conservationist than the general population. Nobody here argues that. But damn this stuff is hard to watch.... Colorado isn't what it used to be, but 3 1/2 more years of Polis is going to be rough.

 

[LuketheDog]

This right here is why I believe conservation groups need to do a way better job of reaching out to and engaging with the "hunting adjacent" populations. Hunters alone aren't going to be able to stave off this wave if it comes down to ballot box biology.

Absolutely. We had dinner with some acquaintances a while back, all non-hunters, but they like to cook and we had a great discussion about cooking and eating wild game. At the end of the night I promised out a couple elk roasts and they had a bunch of questions and misconceptions about hunting answered (number #1 was how much of the meat we take and use). They probably won't be in the field hunting any time soon but they're certainly pulling for me and others to kill and elk and share the rewards. However, that was just a tiny sample size of the population that needs to be reached, we do need to do better.

 

[TOGIE]

it's amazing how few people in those country are actually anti hunters.

the problem is, they have no vested interest. if hunting is legal they really don't care, if hunting get's outlawed they also don't really care. they're just doing their thing worrying about the things that matter to them, and hunting really isn't on the list one way or the other.

we need to focus less on polis and the next governor and more on how to engage with the non hunting public and also how to keep bullshit shitty awful hunting content off social media. the hunters aren't going to sway the next governor and their commission picks. it also doesn't have to be the anti hunters. the majority of voters have that sway, and the majority of voters are non-anti-nonhunters... so, let's give em something to care about.

now, i certainly don't have all the answers here, but i think this an arena where we need to again be thankful for the likes of Newberg and S Rinella and others that are mobilizing and expanding an engaged, thoughtful, ethical force of hunters. but that's also another rabbit hole topic right there thanks to M Rinella.