Why It Matters: With only one week left in Colorado’s election, Coloradans should stay informed on this cycle’s issues and know exactly what a yes vote on Amendment 83 does and doesn’t do. The Amendment would establish a Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish in Colorado, protecting a heritage that has shaped the state for generations. It would also support the science-based wildlife management that has sustained and grown the wildlife populations every Coloradan enjoys, not just hunters and anglers. As a constitutional amendment, it needs 55% of the vote to pass.
What Amendment 83 Does:
- Establishes a constitutional right to hunt and fish, including traditional methods.
- Recognizes hunting and fishing as the preferred means of managing fish and wildlife populations. They are preferred, not the only tool.
- Keeps Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) authority to regulate hunting, fishing, and wildlife management for sound scientific reasons, public safety, and to preserve future hunting and fishing opportunities.
- Protects Colorado’s conservation system by safeguarding critical funding raised by hunters and anglers.
- Makes Colorado the 25th state to protect this right in its constitution.
What Amendment 83 Does Not Do:
- Change trespass laws or private property rights.
- Apply to nongame species, endangered species, or any species illegal to hunt under federal law.
- Repeal any existing hunting, fishing, or trapping restrictions, or immediately change current law.
- Eliminate licenses, seasons, or bag limits.
- Limit access for hikers, wildlife watchers, or other outdoor recreationists.
Hunting and fishing are legal in Colorado today, but only because current statutes and regulations allow them. Those can be changed by a future law or ballot measure. A constitutional right is more durable: changing it would take another constitutional amendment approved by 55 percent of voters. Amendment 83 lets Coloradans decide that hunting and fishing deserve that level of protection.
Beyond tradition, hunters and anglers pay for conservation. Through the American System of Conservation Funding, which combines license sales with federal excise taxes on firearms, ammunition, archery, and fishing gear, Colorado’s sportsmen and women generated $146.8 million in 2026. That accounts for almost 70% of Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s projects budget. Those dollars keep our wildlife healthy and fund habitat work that benefits every species and everyone who enjoys them. Hunting and fishing also drive Colorado’s outdoor economy: Colorado Wildlife Council materials put their annual economic impact at $3.25 billion and credit them with supporting more than 25,000 jobs. Amendment 83 would safeguard the activities that make all of this possible.
Opponents ask why hunting and fishing deserve constitutional protection when other outdoor pursuits don’t. The answer isn’t that hunters and anglers are better, say, than mountain bikers or paddleboarders. It’s that no other outdoor activity plays the same role or is repeatedly attacked in the same way. Hunting and fishing are a recreational tradition, a conservation tool CPW relies on to manage wildlife populations, and the foundation of the “user-pays, public-benefits” funding system that conserves habitat for every species and enhances recreational access for every Coloradan. Amendment 83 protects that system by protecting the opportunity to take part in it.
Hunting and fishing are a Colorado heritage worth protecting, and they benefit all of us, whether you hunt and fish or not. Visit our page for more information on Amendment 83 and how you can support the effort, and please share it with your networks to encourage people to vote yes.