The Wild Sheep Foundation is donating $100,000 to Colorado’s Wildlife Deserve Better (CWDB) to defeat the ballot initiative Proposition 127 to ban the hunting and trapping of mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx. The Initiative will be on the state’s November ballot after obtaining the required signatures.
“This is wrong on so many levels, and it’s not just a Colorado issue,” said Gray N. Thornton, President and CEO of the Wild Sheep Foundation. “Science-based professional wildlife management and the proud traditions of legal, regulated public hunting are increasingly under attack. This ballot initiative is all about out-of-state animal rights and anti-hunting extremists funding a campaign based on misinformation to elicit an emotional response from voters who are being swayed by toxic or misleading headlines.”
Marketed as the “Stop the Trophy Hunting of Mountain Lions” campaign, the initiative, if passed, would eliminate all hunting and trapping of mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx statewide, even though lynx is not a legally hunted species in the state.
“I guess they threw lynx in for effect,” added Corey Mason, WSF’s Executive Vice President of Conservation and COO. “That’s not where the misinformation ends, however. Anti-hunting groups are throwing the kitchen sink at this to confuse not only those who do not hunt but sportsmen and women as well. Their propaganda attempts to call into question proven wildlife management principles and undermines Colorado Parks and Wildlife. If you read all their hype, it’s a desperate attempt for a ballot measure that would tie the hands of Colorado’s wildlife professionals to act responsibly for all its wildlife and the safety of its citizens and disproportionately impact farmers and ranchers in rural communities.”
Colorado Parks & Wildlife has stated that managing mountain lions and bobcats with harvest is a management tool to maintain more stable populations. Hunting mountain lions and bobcats is extremely well-regulated and does not negatively affect their population stability or abundance. Regulated hunting has actually increased mountain lion populations since the practice was first introduced in 1965.
Dan Gates, Chair of the Colorado Wildlife Deserve Better, stated, “With WSF stepping up big time along with many partner organizations, it is obvious that the Antis have awoken a sleeping giant that shows the sense of urgency that this attack has revealed. For far too long, the conservation, hunting, and angling communities have waited to see what’s next, and this issue has brought out the fight that these extremists didn’t know we had. By standing united as one and defending science-based wildlife management and the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, we can and will defeat this assault while helping to lay the groundwork and roadmap to victory for other states by solidifying that hunting, fishing, and trapping continue to be the cornerstones of sustainable wildlife management in perpetuity.”
“Even though unmanaged mountain lion populations can negatively impact wild sheep, especially with herds we’re trying to re-establish, this is not why WSF is engaging in defeating this measure.” Thornton continued. “Consistent with our mission to educate on the conservation benefits of sustainable use, this is a fight worth fighting. This ballot initiative is being pushed by groups that are more concerned with hunters hunting mountain lions than the welfare of these animals. If they succeed, other states will be next; if not trying to eliminate the public hunting of lions, it will be bears or using dogs to hunt upland birds. Predator species are an easy target if your business model is to end all hunting rather than funding actual wildlife conservation. I would encourage anyone who has seen enough of these attempts to use the ballot process as a tool for the anti-hunting agenda to get involved in any way you can.”
To learn what’s at stake, engage, or donate to defeat this measure, visit Colorado’s Wildlife Deserve Better website at this link.
About Wild Sheep Foundation
The Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), based in Bozeman, Mont., was founded in 1977 by sportsmen and other wild sheep conservationists. WSF is the premier advocate for wild sheep, having raised and expended more than $145 million, positively impacting these species through population and habitat enhancements, research and education, and conservation advocacy programs in North America, Europe, and Asia to “Put and Keep Wild Sheep On the Mountain”®. In North America, these and other efforts have increased bighorn sheep populations from historic lows in the 1950s-60s of 25,000 to more than 85,000 today. WSF has a membership of more than 11,000 worldwide. www.wildsheepfoundation.org.
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