_________________________________________ Paws on the ground: How Colorado got its wolves back https://www.hcn.org/articles/wolves-paws-on-the-ground-how-colorado-got-its-wolves-back __________________________________________ Barr Lake The irrigation company that owns the reservoir at the heart of Barr Lake State Park has bulldozed old cottonwood trees and scraped habitat into a wasteland, birdwatchers and other recreational users say, and it further galls them that the work to increase water storage there could further support fracking for oil and gas. State wildlife officials have little control over the extensive dike work at Barr Lake, which is being carried out over the next few months by the Farmers Reservoir and Irrigation Co., or FRICO. But conservationists point out FRICO, a mutual ditch company dating to 1902, received a state Water Conservation Board grant for some of the work, and natural resources officials should have more say in protecting a popular area. ___________________________________
People are shooting birds off power lines in the West. Gunshots outnumber electrocution as a cause of death, according to a new study: https://www.hcn.org/articles/birds-people-are-shooting-birds-off-power-lines-in-the-west _____________________________________ Governor Jared Polis appointed Jess Beaulieu of Denver, John (Jack) Murphy of Aurora, and Gary Skiba of Durango to the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Commission for terms that expire on July 1, 2027. The CPW Commission is a citizen board, composed of 11 governor-appointed members which sets regulations and policies for Colorado’s state parks and wildlife programs. For more information on the CPW Commission and existing members visit cpw.state.co.us. ______________________________________________
8/2022 National Audubon’s reaction to the Inflation Reduction Act: President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, signifying a surge of federal investment in confronting the climate crisis. The new law provides unprecedented levels of funding for renewable energy, climate resilience, agriculture, forestry, and environmental justice initiatives. All of these programs will benefit the West by reducing emissions and providing meaningful action to address climate change, but there are two specific items that are of critical importance given the ongoing drought crisis. During final negotiations in the Senate, an additional $4 billion was included to specifically address the ongoing drought in the West, along with $20 billion in climate smart agricultural practices. Audubon’s advocacy through the years and in the final negotiations of this bill were instrumental in championing the need for this increased focus on western water _______________________________________________
Greater Sage Grouse North America’s sagebrush steppe ecosystem is home to bird species found nowhere else, like the Greater Sage-Grouse. But a deadly invader threatens to send their habitat up flames. Learn how cheatgrass and other invasive weeds threaten this ecosystem’s very existence and what we must do to save it: http://ow.ly/BY1x30qTur9 _______________________________________
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“We invade tropical forests and other wild landscapes, which harbor so many species of animals and plants—and within those creatures, so many unknown viruses,” David Quammen, author of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, recently wrote in The New York Times. “We cut the trees; we kill the animals or cage them and send them to markets. We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it.” __________________________________________________________________ Update 4/2021 A judge has stopped these killing plans in response to several lawsuits. CPW has yet to disclose how many mountain lions and black bears have already been killed.
10/4/16 ACC letter opposing the CPW mountain lion/black bear killing plans.
Audubon Colorado Council (ACC), representing 11 Audubon chapters in Colorado with approximately 7,750 total members, urges the CPW Commission to reject the Upper Arkansas River Predator Management Plan and the Piceance Basin Predator Management Plan.
Science has shown that killing predators to increase ungulate populations does not work because the key to survival is protection of breeding does and adequate food, not predation (Bishop, et al, 2009; Hurley, et al, 2011; Forrester and Wittmer, 2013; Monteith, et al, 2014). A study by Forrester and Wittmer (2013) showed that predator removal had no beneficial effect for mule deer. Black bear are not a significant mule deer predator. They are more likely to steal carcasses from other predators than kill deer themselves (Elbroch, et al, 2015).
Climate change influencing snow pack, food shortages, parasites, hunting, poaching, energy development, habitat fragmentation, lack of cover for fawns due to oil/gas development are at the root of declining mule deer populations (Carroll, 2013). Weather, habitat loss, oil and gas development, fire suppression, and competition with domestic livestock interfere with mule deer survival (Wittmer, 2013 and Monteith, et al, 2014).
Colorado’s own biologists have found that deer are limited by their food quality and that managing winter range for deer benefited deer populations. Lack of high quality winter range is the primary factor for declining mule deer populations (Bergman, et al, 2015 and Johnson, et al, 2016).
In western Colorado, a 37% increase in residential development on mule deer winter range has reduced ungulate populations (Johnson, et al, 2016). Energy development on the Roan Plateau resulted in huge habitat loss- herds move faster, stop less to feed, become weak, fall prey to parasites, and their numbers decrease (Johnson, et al, 2016).
Mountain lions and black bears are slow to breed and are not resilient when subjected to extreme killing plans such as those proposed here (Ripple, et al, 2016). Killing female mountain lions and black bears causes needless deaths of kittens and cubs since these youngsters are completely dependent on their mothers (Stoner, et al, 2006).
Finally, the use of Wildlife Services circumvents the Colorado constitutional amendment rules for hunting/trapping bears and trapping rules generally. Wildlife Services would use snares (foot, leg, neck), traps (body grip, cage, foothold), hounds and firearms. In 2014, Wildlife Services exterminated 305 cougars and 580 black bears using these methods. The agency annually publishes charts tallying its kills, but does not explain if any non-lethal means were attempted first. The agency’s Predator Research Facility has spent decades considering non-lethal deterrents and yet these “non-lethal means don’t make it down to field operations” (High Country News, 2016).
Ninety six percent (96%) of Coloradoans “appreciate knowing these magnificent animals live in Colorado…”. In this age of increased awareness of the need for conservation of species, it is disconcerting to see these types of management plans for predators.
ACC strongly urges the Commission to reject these two predator killing plans.
_______________________________________________________ “Get the Lead Out” ACC Lead Fact Sheet
