As you may have heard, in the past few months Governor John Hickenlooper has proposed a merger between the Colorado Department of Wildlife and the Colorado State Parks. While both agencies are under the state’s Department of Natural Resources. The new agency would be called the Division of Parks, Wildlife and Outdoor Recreation (CDPW). The Governors office said, “early estimates” are that the consolidation would allow a reduction of about 25 state positions through attrition. There would also be savings through reduction of fleet vehicles and other equipment. Although, officials did not have a precise estimate of cost savings from the move.

On May 7th, the committee consisting of Gail Schwartz, Mary Hodge, Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, Rep. Cheri Gerou, Rep. Randy Fisher, among others held a vote on the new bill. Fisher was quoted as saying “It wasn’t close.” Fischer is one of the merger’s most vocal dissenters at the Capitol, and lawmakers sidelined his efforts to amend the bill to require the state to study the cost effectiveness of merging the two agencies before it actually occurs.

Here’s an opinion, we need to look at a few factors:

• The Division of Wildlife currently has “enterprise status,” based on the fact that the Division relies on hunters and anglers to pay for wildlife management without receiving general fund money.  Enterprise status allows sportspeople’s dollars to be used for the benefit of fish, wildlife, angling and hunting, and must be preserved.
• The Division of Wildlife receives approximately $20 million per year in Federal Aid from the Sport Fish and Wildlife programs, which are funded by sportsmen through excise taxes on ammunition, fishing tackle, and similar items.  Continued eligibility for these funds requires that revenue generated from hunting and fishing license fees not be diverted to non-fish-and-wildlife purposes.  Any merger must include legal restrictions and adequate, transparent accounting to ensure that no diversion takes place.
• The Division of Wildlife and the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation have distinct missions and responsibilities that must be respected and maintained under any merger.
• As license fees go toward Parks-related operations, those must be limited exclusively to fish and wildlife management or hunting and fishing recreation. Given the likelihood that Game Cash will be shifted for such uses with State Parks, the Department of Natural Resources should provide an honest and thorough answer to sportsmen on the trade-offs involved.  In other words, what will the Division of Wildlife not do in the future that it is doing today, in order to allow it to fund other fish and wildlife activities within State Parks?
• While the Division of Wildlife has been funded almost exclusively by sportsmen, Colorado State Parks has been unable to maintain itself solely on fees and historically received funding from the General Fund and more recently from severance taxes.  A merger may ease – but does not eliminate – the need for future funding of State Parks; this merger should not simply facilitate a transfer of sportsmen dollars on a perpetual basis for operation of State Parks.  A clear plan and commitment to ensure adequate future funding for Parks is needed.
• The ability of fish and wildlife professionals to provide effective, science-based management and information must not be compromised in the merger process.
• The Wildlife Commission’s current statutory authority to develop policy and to adopt fish and wildlife regulations must remain intact.

So, let’s answer some questions before making our decisions, folks. The state should provide all hunters, anglers, park users, etc. more information on exactly how this will affect both the states wildlife management and park’s administration.

What do you think?

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust

So, all you anglers out there in Florida, please visit http://www.projectpermit.com or contact bonefish@mote.org for more information. Project Permit will kick off on March 14 in Key West at the March Merkin fishing tournament.

Grab your tagging kits and help out a good cause!

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