At its March meeting, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Commission voted 6-4 to initiate rulemaking on a citizen petition seeking to amend regulations to “prohibit the commercial sale of wildlife fur in Colorado.”
CPW Director Laura Clellan said the vote does not mean the entirety of the petition has been approved. CPW staff will draft a proposed rule to begin the rulemaking process in the coming months, which will then be brought back to the commission for consideration.
The Colorado Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) said that the action should concern “anyone who values science-based wildlife management and fair public process.”
CCA Executive Vice President Erin Karney Spur said in an emailed Member Communications notice that “increasingly, the Commission appears willing to advance activist-driven policy despite recommendations of its own professional staff and despite strong public opposition.”
The proposed prohibition could apply to Colorado’s 17 hunted and trapped furbearer species: coyote, beaver, bobcat, mink, pine marten, badger, red fox, gray fox, swift fox, raccoon, ring-tailed cat, striped skunk, western spotted skunk, long-tailed weasel, short-tailed weasel, opossum and muskrat.
