Board expresses opposition to Proposition 127

Published on October 17, 2024

In support of a continued data-backed approach to managing animal populations and the rights of property owners to defend themselves, their property and livestock, the Weld County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday expressing its opposition to Proposition 127. If passed, the measure would ban the hunting of mountain lions and bobcats in Colorado.

The resolution, which encourages voters throughout Weld County to vote no on Proposition 127, lists several dangers of no longer being able to hunt bobcats and mountain lions,  a regulated activity in Colorado since 1965. The resolution opposing Proposition 127 reads in part, “without professional wildlife management, communities — especially rural areas throughout Colorado — would bear the brunt of the impacts, including increased conflicts between predators, people and livestock.”  It also mentions the consequences Proposition 127 could have in “undoing decades of successful wildlife conservation, posing new dangers to both public safety and ecological balance.”

“Bobcats and mountain lions are predatory animals,” said Kevin Ross, Weld County Commissioner Chair. “When you start mixing the balance between predatory animals, livestock and other animals such as deer, elk antelope, moose and rocky mountain sheep, you put other populations in jeopardy.

“There’s been a concerted effort in this state many times to stop hunting and landowner rights,” Ross said, citing the impact of gray wolves being reintroduced in Colorado in recent years. “It’s frightening.”

During public comment following the board’s reading of the resolution, John Swartout, former Executive Director of Colorado Counties Incorporated, supported the board’s opposition to Proposition 127, stating that the longstanding practice of hunting has been beneficial in managing issues related to bobcats and mountain lions.

“(Proponents) claim that the proposition is to end trophy hunting, but trophy hunting is already outlawed in Colorado,” Swartout said. “We have healthy populations of bobcats, mountain lions and lynx in our state, because they’ve been professionally managed and balanced. Hunting has always been a tool that’s been used to maintain populations.”