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Colorado Parks and Wildlife - New Licensing Rules

661 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Soulakala 
#1 ·
CPW reminds people of new licensing rules

News*July 8, 2020

Sky-Hi News staff report

Colorado Parks and Wildlife recently adopted a rule change requiring all visitors 18 or older to possess a valid hunting or fishing license to access any state wildlife area or state trust land leased by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Because these properties have always been open to the public, not just to the hunters and anglers that purchased them and pay for their maintenance, many people visit these properties and use them as they would any other public land.

As Colorado’s population — and desire for outdoor recreation — has continued to grow, a significant increase in traffic to these areas has disrupted wildlife, the habitat the areas were acquired to protect, and the hunters and anglers whose contributions were critical to acquiring these properties, according to CPW.

Because funding for these properties is specifically generated by hunting and fishing license sales and the resulting federal match, requested options such as “hiking licenses” or “conservation permits” would likely not allow for the maintenance and management needed.

“This new rule change will help our agency begin to address some of the unintended uses we’re seeing at many of our State Wildlife Areas and State Trust Lands,” said CPW Director Dan Prenzlow.
“We have seen so much more non-wildlife related use of these properties that we need to bring it back to the intended use — conservation and protection of wildlife and their habitat.”

Officials don’t expect everyone to know the rules, which went into effect this month, right away.

“We do anticipate some confusion based on how the properties are funded, and the high amount of unintended use over time in these areas. We plan to spend a good amount of time educating the public on this change,” Southeast Regional Manager Brett Ackerman said.
“But in its simplest form, it is just as any other user-funded access works. You cannot use a fishing license to enter a state park, because the park is not purchased and developed specifically for fishing. Similarly, you cannot use a park pass to enter lands that are intended for the sole purpose of wildlife conservation, because a park pass is designed to pay for parks.”

State law requires that the agency keep these funding sources separated.

CPW is a user-funded agency and, unlike most government agencies, receives very little money from the general fund.

The new rule requires all users to contribute to the source of funding that makes the acquisition and maintenance of these properties possible. But the activities that interfere with wildlife-related uses or that negatively impact wildlife habitat don’t become acceptable just because an individual possesses a hunting or fishing license.
 
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#2 ·
that is why an out of town or maybe be nice and just make it an out of stater would have to buy a sidewalk pass to walk on any sidewalk. as they do not pay for the up keep or any of the costs associated with them.


at some point the pay to use idea is going to far.
 
#3 ·
I don't agree with what they are doing or will expand on later. If we were to take that idea to the extreme maybe people from Colorado should bring their own poop bag and dispose of it in their own state as it costs tax money to process waste.

So does that mean all those mountain bikers need to get a licence of some sort to use public trails? Now how about rafters using state waters?
 
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