Why it Matters: 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 considerations of broader impacts within Colorado’s overall science-based management plan. These initiatives can allow wildlife management decisions to be made based on emotion rather than scientific principles, tying the hands of professional wildlife managers by restricting adaptive tools and methods necessary to achieve balanced and thriving ecosystems. Defeating this ballot initiative will keep the authority to manage Colorado’s wildlife in the hands of the state’s professionals where it belongs.
Highlights:
- Late last year, anti-hunting groups in Colorado filed a petition to place an initiative on the Colorado ballot this November that would prohibit large cat hunting. This initiative has been named Proposition 127 by the Colorado Secretary of State.
- Proposition 127 is the result of the Colorado legislature voting down Senate Bill 22-031 (SB22-031), which also aimed to restrict predator management, circumvent the authority of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and erode the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.
- As reported earlier, the anti-hunting group running the campaign to place Prop 127 on the ballot in Colorado this November, dropped off their signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State back in July. The Colorado Secretary of State determined that the anti-hunting group’s signatures were valid and that they crossed the legal threshold necessary to place Prop 127 on the ballot in November.
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) strongly opposed these efforts during the 2023 legislative session and have been actively working to defeat the initiative throughout 2024.
Now that we’re in the home stretch leading up to the elections, the fight against Proposition 127 is on. This latest round of ballot box biology goes against all proven, scientific wildlife management practices, as well as CSF’s mission. Polling shows that Coloradans are split fairly evenly on this issue without any education, but once Coloradans are informed about the realities and impact of the proposed ban, and told that Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s own scientific research shows that Colorado’s mountain lion, bobcat, and lynx populations are “strong, abundant, and not biologically threatened,” the polling shifts definitively in our favor.
From now until Election Day, the effort to oppose Prop 127 is all about educating every single Coloradan about the facts, and push back against the false, unscientific, and dangerous narrative being spun by the opposition. This kind of massive media effort is extremely expensive however, so the most helpful thing you can do is donate to the effort to stop this ballot initiative. Please visit Colorado’s Wildlife Deserve Better, the organization created by our in-state coalition to oppose this attack and make a contribution. Every bit helps!
CSF will continue to oppose Proposition 127 in Colorado and report on the situation.
