Foxpro.223
Well-known member
That petition threshold is pretty low for a state that has nearly 6 million residents.
Originally Posted By: The Fence Post
By Rachel Gabel
Oct 20, 2023
The Colorado Title Board approved a petition filed by representatives of Cats Aren’t Trophies for circulation. The group must collect 124,238 verified signatures to place a measure on the ballot in 2024 to outlaw the harvest of mountain lions, bobcat and lynx.
The ballot title and submission clause as designated and fixed by the board during the Oct. 18 hearing is as follows:
Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning a prohibition on the trophy hunting of mountain lions, lynx and bobcats, and, in connection therewith, defining “trophy hunting” as the intentional killing, wounding, pursuing, entrapping, or discharging or releasing of a deadly weapon at a mountain lion, lynx or bobcat; creating exemptions from this prohibition including for the protection of human life, property and livestock; establishing “trophy hunting” as a class 1 misdemeanor; and increasing fines and limiting wildlife license privileges for persons convicted of this crime?
Gaspar Perricone is the chair of the Colorado Wildlife Conservation Project and said the standard of signatures the group has a high likelihood of achieving.
Perricone, who is a past member of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, said the group has unsuccessfully petitioned the commission directly multiple times, and their attempt through legislative channels in the form of SB22-031, which was killed in committee.
“It’s a way for them to sidestep the shortcomings and the science-based management approach,” he said. “They’ve tried several times at the commission level by way of petition and have failed. They tried two years ago at the state capitol with Senate Bill 31 and failed again in committee and I think saw this as the last recourse of options for them. But, it’s a convenient one because the series of checks and balances that are in place for traditional wildlife management decision making and it was during those deliberations, the shortcomings in this approach were (discussed).”
Conversely, the Title Board does not hear the merit of petitions, but only determines whether the language adheres to the law.
SEEKING A STATUTORY DEFINITION
Perricone said his group and others take issue with the notion of trophy hunting the group seeks to define in the petition. He said they are seeking a statutory definition through their interpretation of what constitutes trophy hunting, despite mountain lion’s status as big game.
“This is targeted to the sentimental appeal of how they define trophy hunting, and my sense is that it is, certainly in this particular case, directed at the harvest of lion and bobcat, it’s a reasonable assumption to assume they will at later dates apply that statutory definition of trophy hunting to other species and other manner of take,” he said.
He said the group is running the initiative under a false pretense that the harvest of these species is only done and only conducted for purposes of collecting a trophy. He said that notion is statutorily and regulatory untrue.
“If successful, they will once again circumvent the authority of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission and the Colorado General Assembly, two bodies that have previously dismissed the proposal on account of not embracing a holistic approach to wildlife management,” he said. “There has been a migration away from these decisions being made by the biologists and ecological experts at Colorado Parks and Wildlife and this embrace of ballot box biology is very concerning for us in the community because it does dismiss best available science.”
He said this is an example of a group seeking social consequence rather than implementing what is actually best for the species on the ground.
“The hunting and angling community is arguably the greatest wildlife conservation community in the world,” he said. “It is a very regulated and legally defined process, and all of those rules and regulations are born from a management perspective that is intended to benefit the long-term survival and healthy, sustainable nature of both the game animal herds as well as the non-hunted species in the state.”
Perricone said he anticipates there will likely be an appeal to the Title Board prior to the Oct. 25 deadline. The rehearing of the proposal and defense of the appeal will be Nov. 1. If proponents meet the legal threshold for the question, the only remaining recourse will be the Colorado Supreme Court.
https://www.thefencepost.com/news/lion-hunting-ban-granted-title/
Originally Posted By: The Fence Post
By Rachel Gabel
Oct 20, 2023
The Colorado Title Board approved a petition filed by representatives of Cats Aren’t Trophies for circulation. The group must collect 124,238 verified signatures to place a measure on the ballot in 2024 to outlaw the harvest of mountain lions, bobcat and lynx.
The ballot title and submission clause as designated and fixed by the board during the Oct. 18 hearing is as follows:
Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning a prohibition on the trophy hunting of mountain lions, lynx and bobcats, and, in connection therewith, defining “trophy hunting” as the intentional killing, wounding, pursuing, entrapping, or discharging or releasing of a deadly weapon at a mountain lion, lynx or bobcat; creating exemptions from this prohibition including for the protection of human life, property and livestock; establishing “trophy hunting” as a class 1 misdemeanor; and increasing fines and limiting wildlife license privileges for persons convicted of this crime?
Gaspar Perricone is the chair of the Colorado Wildlife Conservation Project and said the standard of signatures the group has a high likelihood of achieving.
Perricone, who is a past member of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, said the group has unsuccessfully petitioned the commission directly multiple times, and their attempt through legislative channels in the form of SB22-031, which was killed in committee.
“It’s a way for them to sidestep the shortcomings and the science-based management approach,” he said. “They’ve tried several times at the commission level by way of petition and have failed. They tried two years ago at the state capitol with Senate Bill 31 and failed again in committee and I think saw this as the last recourse of options for them. But, it’s a convenient one because the series of checks and balances that are in place for traditional wildlife management decision making and it was during those deliberations, the shortcomings in this approach were (discussed).”
Conversely, the Title Board does not hear the merit of petitions, but only determines whether the language adheres to the law.
SEEKING A STATUTORY DEFINITION
Perricone said his group and others take issue with the notion of trophy hunting the group seeks to define in the petition. He said they are seeking a statutory definition through their interpretation of what constitutes trophy hunting, despite mountain lion’s status as big game.
“This is targeted to the sentimental appeal of how they define trophy hunting, and my sense is that it is, certainly in this particular case, directed at the harvest of lion and bobcat, it’s a reasonable assumption to assume they will at later dates apply that statutory definition of trophy hunting to other species and other manner of take,” he said.
He said the group is running the initiative under a false pretense that the harvest of these species is only done and only conducted for purposes of collecting a trophy. He said that notion is statutorily and regulatory untrue.
“If successful, they will once again circumvent the authority of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission and the Colorado General Assembly, two bodies that have previously dismissed the proposal on account of not embracing a holistic approach to wildlife management,” he said. “There has been a migration away from these decisions being made by the biologists and ecological experts at Colorado Parks and Wildlife and this embrace of ballot box biology is very concerning for us in the community because it does dismiss best available science.”
He said this is an example of a group seeking social consequence rather than implementing what is actually best for the species on the ground.
“The hunting and angling community is arguably the greatest wildlife conservation community in the world,” he said. “It is a very regulated and legally defined process, and all of those rules and regulations are born from a management perspective that is intended to benefit the long-term survival and healthy, sustainable nature of both the game animal herds as well as the non-hunted species in the state.”
Perricone said he anticipates there will likely be an appeal to the Title Board prior to the Oct. 25 deadline. The rehearing of the proposal and defense of the appeal will be Nov. 1. If proponents meet the legal threshold for the question, the only remaining recourse will be the Colorado Supreme Court.
https://www.thefencepost.com/news/lion-hunting-ban-granted-title/
