On a cold November evening in 2024, as the last light faded behind the Rockies, conservationists across Colorado waited. They weren’t just watching election results. They were watching the fate of a way of life.
That day, in a decisive victory for the health and prosperity of Colorado’s wildlife populations, Coloradans voted down Proposition 127, a measure intended to remove the Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s (CPW) ability to manage mountain lion and bobcat populations based on scientific management practices. A culmination of years of work and advocacy in both the legislative arena and a public relations campaign, the defeat of Proposition 127 was a monumental win for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), science-based wildlife management, and the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.
Proposition 127 sought to prohibit the regulated hunting of mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx (a moot point thrown in for extra shine, as lynx are already a non-game species due to Endangered Species Act protections). Prop 127 would have blocked Colorado’s state wildlife agency from managing mountain lion and bobcat populations based on proven scientific management practices, likely causing lion and bobcat populations to increase dramatically, resulting in negative side-effects (such as over-predation of mule deer and elk, increased conflict with livestock producers, beloved household pets being killed, and dangerous, sometimes lethal, human interactions with these big cats – as has frequently happened in California since they passed a similar ban). Proponents of Proposition 127 focused on emotional campaigns and misinformation in an attempt to garner the public’s support. Contrary to the misinformation spread, Colorado’s mountain lion and bobcat populations are strong and not biologically threatened, and should be managed by the experts, not emotion.
Proposition 127 was the result of the Colorado legislature voting down Senate Bill 22-031, which had the same goal of restricting predator management. Senate Bill 22-031, went down in flames with a 4-1 vote in the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee during the 2023 Colorado Legislative Session. After failing to advance this dangerous policy in the legislature, anti-hunting advocates filed a proposed ballot measure with the same goal, this time hoping to instead pass their hunting ban by placing it on the November 2024 ballot.
The use of ballot initiatives like Proposition 127 to ban hunting circumvents the legislative and regulatory process that provides the opportunity for input by professionals, for revisions, and for considerations of broader impacts within Colorado’s overall science-based approach to fish and wildlife management. Initiatives such as Proposition 127 can allow wildlife management decisions to be made based on emotion rather than scientific principles – ultimately tying the hands of professional wildlife managers by restricting adaptive tools and methods that are necessary and proven to achieve balanced and thriving ecosystems. The defeat of this ballot initiative will keep the authority to manage Colorado’s wildlife in the hands of the state’s professionals, where it belongs.
Proposition 127 faced significant opposition from a broad coalition of hunters, outdoors enthusiasts, wildlife conservationists and organizations, as well as professional, educated experts who warned that the initiative could lead to negative consequences for Colorado’s wildlife and public safety. CSF was on the ground in Colorado, testifying against the legislative attempts in 2023 and educating the public about Prop 127’s harmful attempt at ballot box biology in 2024. In October, less than a month before Prop 127 would be voted on, over 300 members of the sporting-conservation community gathered on the western lawn of Colorado’s Capitol in Denver to show solidarity in opposition to Proposition 127.
The sporting-conservation community came together in an unprecedented way to educate the nonhunting public on the dangers of Prop 127, the importance of protecting science-based wildlife management, the positive benefits of hunting, and how hunters support conservation. While we, as sportsmen and women, may have a good understanding of these principles, the sporting-conservation community has not always done an incredible job at sharing this critical information with the non-hunting public, making them an inherently soft target for the misinformation spread by the anti-hunting community. The nonhunting community of Colorado was truly who would make or break Prop 127, and the targeted communication towards those outside of our community played a significant role in the defeat of Prop 127.
Colorado voters saw through Prop 127’s attempt at ballot box biology and chose decisively to allow wildlife management to remain in the hands of the professionals. Prop 127 failed with 54.8% of voters voting “No” and 45.2% of voters voting “yes”. The proposed ban passed in six counties – Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, San Juan, and San Miguel, mostly urban areas that are often unaffected, or at least less affected by the downstream effects of initiatives like Prop 127.
The use of ballot box biology is not new, even in Colorado. This is the second time in the last four years that Colorado voters have had wildlife management on the ballot, with voters narrowly voting to approve the reintroduction of gray wolves to western Colorado in 2022. Colorado voters have historically also voted on other wildlife management decisions, such as the use of dogs for bear hunting. The defeat of Proposition 127 is a massive win for the sporting-conservation community, marking the first time that voters in Colorado have rejected a ballot proposal related to wildlife management since 1992. By rejecting this emotion-based, out-of-state funded initiative, Coloradans ensured that the state’s ecosystem will continue to thrive under the skilled, scientific stewardship of CPW and have sent a clear message that wildlife management decisions need to stay where they belong – with the experts.
While our community should rightfully celebrate this huge win, our work is not over. The defeat of Prop 127 certainly sends a strong message, but the anti-hunting community is not easily dissuaded. Luckily enough, neither are we. When our time-honored traditions are threatened, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation gets to work.
From coast to coast, CSF will continue fighting against attempts to erode science-based wildlife management whenever and wherever threats like Prop 127 arise. Our dedicated team of hunters, anglers, recreational shooters, and policy professionals work at both the federal and state levels to help give you a voice in the halls of government. We are the wall that stands between you and the efforts of the anti-sportsman community, steadfast and ready for whatever may threaten to limit or eliminate our outdoor pursuits. You can count on us to keep advocating for you – for the love of glassing up velvet mule deer bucks at first light, for the love of quaking aspens and bugling bulls in the fall, and for the love of everything else that matters to you most, because it matters to us too.