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Words matter, but!!!!!!!!!! An on going narrative of the pro wolfers here in Colorado and else where, is the use of the terms: Trophy Hunting, Recreational Hunting, and Sport Hunting. Regarding Colorado's Wolf Management Plan, I have heard this narrative from one CPW Commissioner, from Pro wolfers who testify at the public wolf meetings, and now from past US Senator Mark Udall from Colorado, in an opinion article denouncing hunters and then outfitters who only want to kill wolves for profit and for sport, if left to do so if the Phase four of the plan is carried out.. The cry is "No Phase Four ever!"
I have always understood, under the guide lines of the North American Wildlife Conservation Model, that hunters were a MANAGEMENT TOOL, and that hunting/harvesting of wild life was for the management of the health of the species and others., be it deer, elk, or wolves and the Model never mentions the terms, trophy hunting, recreational hunting, sport hunting as a way to positively control big game populations. The Term and the act of "management hunting" in the vast majority of cases, is used for all big game species, but to put the Gray Wolf on a higher pedestal and to be off limits to any lethal means , "trophy, recreational, sport hunting is used and is a big NO NO, and is used as a narrative to create more emotions for the non hunting publics to support wolf re introduction and not allow any lethal management of the Gary Wolf as in Colorado, in the future, to keep their numbers in check.
Worded in the Proposition 114, definition of "Gray Wolf, is as a non game animal", thus putting it off limits to any Management Hunting as Phase 4 suggests and far into future.
Will be interesting to see how the CPW staff and the CPW Commission handles that issue during the current public meeting and then a final decision of the plan in May or June.
Phase 4 (Game species status): “Phase 4” refers to when the wolf may potentially be classified as a game species in the future. Phase 4 is not required under CRS 33-2-105.8. There is no population objective for wolves in this Plan. Long-term wolf management may include reclassification as a big game or furbearer species. Regulated public harvest of wolves by hunting during designated seasons is one tool that may help CPW manage wolf numbers and social acceptance of wolves upon delisting and reclassification as a game species. Necessarily, this phase can only be framed in general terms at this time because forecasting the details of this future is impossible using currently available information. CPW will defer consideration of and development of specifics for long-term management until the beginning of Phase 3 at the earliest, when better information about wolves and their distribution in Colorado is available. Future management will be guided by the best available biological and social science data provided by CPW.
I saw that Wyoming re-worded their predatory "big game" species to "large carnivore" I like it. Words matter. That would be a good move in Colorado
“There is no population objective for wolves in this Plan.”
Having a population goal number is pointless. They will surpass it, ignore it, then remove it.
What the wolf 'protectors' fail to understand is that if wolves are not 'managed' as a 'game' animal they'll be managed as vermin. By people who won't bother to bandy words.
As Michael mentioned, there’s a bill currently in the state legislature to change the term Trophy Game Animal to Large Carnivore Game Animal. On a related note, another bill has been introduced that will make wanton waste of meat a game violation for trophy (large carnivore) game animals, along with all other game animals/birds.
As an after though per Mark Udall. He was all for using an elk hunt, yea, lethal management by hunters, in the Rocky Mt Nat Park to manage the elk herd, here in Colorado and brought that bill to committee. But now he is totally against the lethal management of the gray wolf here in Colorado once the wolf population expands. Speaking out both sides of his mouth for sure!
Rocky, unfortunately the statute already defines wolves in such a way that they cannot be defined as a "game animal".
Hunters have already lost the branding battle because the national, local, and social media are all-in on the trophy hunting narrative. It is sensational, and that's what they want because it raises people's heart rate and gets them to pay attention.
Blows me away how many people in our mountain community believe "sport" or "recreational" hunting means the animals are killed for fun and left to rot.
I think the cattle guys will be hard on them! Probably be legal for them to shoot wolf's to protect livestock eventually. Then it will be war!
Cattle guys? Ha! Pussys, the real killers are the sheep herders. For you guys who speak Spanish, have a chat with one while you’re out and about. You will be shocked at how many bears they kill, I’m talking dozens per summer.
I do agree words matter. I hate the word trophy hunter and sport hunter as much as the word “harvest”
Yeah Words and Mischaracterizations are being used against us.
There are many in the Wildlife management arena that should know better- but don’t.
Its just mind boggling to me that CO and other states would intro an apex predator. They use a lot of excuses…but IMO it all boils down to hatred for hunting.
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@Beendare…….. like you see in California, Colorado voted it in, but notice where those votes came from!
the actual votes was 50.8 for and 49.2 against.
Once wolves are established in Colorado the pro Wolf coalition will see to it that Phase 4 will never happen. In Wisconsin we were sold a bill of goods. Wolves were supposed to be turned over to state management once the statewide population reached 300 wolves. That number was reached over 20 years ago and now there are thousands of wolves in Wisconsin and deer populations have been decimated in at least a third of the state. We've had 2 short wolf hunting/trapping seasons but repeated lawsuits and rulings by liberal judges have shut the seasons down and not honored the original plan of turning wolves over to state management. In our last Wolf hunt which happened on very short notice, 120 wolves were killed in just a few days. That alone is proof that the wolf population far exceeds estimates. Unfortunately the Wisconsin DNR has been infiltrated by anti hunter pro Wolf individuals who have placed wolves on a pedestal and do not support their proper management. There are probably a few people who take things into their own hands and eliminate wolves during chance encounters but anybody who thinks those incidental kills will be enough to keep Wolf numbers in check are kidding themselves. The only way to control wolves is through a legal organized hunting and trapping season, which is an extreme uphill battle because the pro Wolf crowd doesn't honor previous agreements and continually change the rules.
Here's a cute cuddly Wisconsin wolf a friend killed during our first season. My friend is about 6'4"
The pro-wolfer’s have a long, pathetic history of selling us all a bill of goods. It took over 20 years of intense frustration, but Thank God for the Court of Appeals in D.C. to allow Wyoming to put finally put an end to most of the insanity here.
You guys in CO need to conduct a good old fashion wolf drive and push them into WY will be waiting with the boom sticks. :)
Trapping has proven to be an extremely effective control method. But that , too, has been outlawed in CO by the forward-thinking voters.
“This is why you need the exit criteria so it can be a forcing function to ensure a transition to phase 4!”
Rocky - Wisconsin’s “Wolf Recovery” called for a “sustainable population goal” of 350 wolves. That number was written into the plan and once reached, was to trigger management hunts.
The wolf population blew past that.
Anecdotal evidence leads me to believe that the estimated population numbers are well below actual numbers.
Regardless, the WIDNR’s population estimate was almost 1200 before the last hunt.
That hunt took place because of a lawsuit attesting that 1200 is more than 350… the number written into the plan.
So… they simply removed the number from the plan. See the link that I posted.
“ There is no population objective for wolves in this plan.”
In my opinion, if there were a population objective, they would ignore it, obfuscate with regard to actual numbers and then simply remove that number anyway. I suspect that they’ve done the math in Colorado and determined that they don’t even need a number for their Kabuki Theater.
"Kabuki theatre" is right. CPW was united against the wolf dumping before the election, and watching these poor CPW folks tasked with managing this debacle is painful, since they have to put on a happy face and say all the right things.
Then having to listen to some brain dead woman stand up and demand a goal of 3700 wolves because Minnesota "has that many" and their deer herds are flourishing, with no livestock conflicts.
According to my source, "phase 4 is only presented in general terms in the Draft Plan. Whether or not is appears in the final plan will be guided by the direction provided by the CPW Commissions".
I would then expect that, based on testimonies from the Public Meetings, and the current make up of the Commission, Phase 4 will not make it to the final plan. Phase 4 seems to be a "shot in the dark" idea. Sort of what if the wolves get out of control in the future, but not having Phase 4 will not change the intent of the plan; wolves will be forced into Colorado without a long range population goal.
I saw that Wyoming re-worded their predatory "big game" species to "large carnivore" I like it. Words matter. That would be a good move in Colorado
Good luck CO, As I've previously posted, from bugle mag a few years ago, "MN has more wolves than WY, MT, ID, combined". To hear someone say that our deer herds are flourishing - they truly are brain dead!
Good chart Cazador.....illustrative of the voters that are the least informed making the decision.
Another really messed up part of this is the huge majority of people who voted for them will never see a wolf, or the destruction they cause, unless it shows up on their phone on one of their feeds. Or they happen to see one alongside I-70 enroute to skiing.
One obese man who spoke at the Gunnison meeting said he has just as much right to see a wolf on public land as ranchers have to graze there, or hunters have to hunt there. Which is true in the abstract, but I bet he never gets out of his car except to go into stores, never contributes a nickel toward wildlife conservation or habitat.
