Colorado Lost? – Political Agendas Vs. Science-Based Wildlife Management

 

Jeff Davis, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Director since May 2023, announced Tuesday he will resign and move to the Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR) executive director’s office as a senior policy advisor for strategic priorities. But let’s be realistic about this, Jeff Davis didn’t step down from CPW—he was handed a termination agreement and chose to resign instead. Jeff was a trained wildlife management professional with a B.S in Biology & Wildlife Management, and 23 years’ experience with Washington’s Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, so one has to wonder, why was he forced out?

Jeff Davis’s second day on the job was the same day Colorado’s wolf reintroduction plan was adopted. This program was a voter-mandated initiative, narrowly approved in November 2020, primarily by liberal voters in Boulder and Denver who essentially used Ballot Box Biology to shove their wolf program down CPW’s throat. It made no difference that an overwhelming majority of Western Slope counties, where the wolves would be deposited, opposed it.

By almost any measure, this wolf program has been an unmitigated disaster. To date, CPW’s released 15 wolves from Oregon into Colorado, and 10 from British Columbia. Of these 25 wolves, 11 have already been confirmed to have died or been killed. Now the federal government has directed that Colorado can no longer import wolves from Canada, and the state of Washington has denied CPW’s request to source wolves from there. Simultaneously, livestock producers and their representatives in the state legislature have criticized the agency for lack of preparedness, inability to prevent wolf-caused livestock predation, and reluctance to provide timely and sufficient compensation. The program’s costs have also ballooned far beyond initial projections, with CPW spending millions more than what was initially expected.

I submit to you that Jeff Davis, a career wildlife professional, didn’t fail, this flawed program – which was jammed down his throat by liberal voters using Ballot Box biology and backed by our liberal Governor – failed.

So who’s replacing him as interim director? None other than Colorado National Guard retired Maj. Gen. Laura Clellan, who was the executive director of the Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs where she was the first openly LGBTQ woman to hold the role of adjutant general. Does she have any credentials as a wildlife professional – any at all? – No!  The only reason she’s being selected is she’s a flaming liberal who will carry out Gov. Jared Polis’ wishes.

Polis thanked Davis for his leadership and said he is “grateful” to have Clellan step in as acting director … yeah, no kidding. This is just one more instance of a qualified Colorado wildlife professional being replaced by an unqualified liberal appointed by Polis to support his agenda.

It’s a pattern that we’ve seen many times, from the vet board to the state land board and onto the wildlife commission; Ellen Kessler, Nicole Rosmarino, Jessica Beaulieu—appointments whose animal rights activism speaks louder than their experience for their statutorily roles they have been appointed to serve.

Here’s the kicker of it all: CPW’s boots-on-the-ground staff are incredible professionals trying to do right by Colorado’s wildlife. But when their efforts are stymied at every turn in order to serve the Governor and First Gentleman Marlon Reis’s ideological agenda, how can these good people succeed? That’s right – they can’t!

We must ask ourselves why was Jeff Davis fired? Why was the wolf reintroduction program jammed down his throat? Why have wolf costs exploded to many-times what voters were promised? Why are we over $600,000 deep in livestock compensation? Why have 11+ wolves died? Why did the federal government issue a cease-and-desist? Why did Washington State reject our wolf request? Why are CPW staff being silenced with gag orders?

Bottomline, this all starts with our liberal governor and his first gentleman, and flows down to his handpicked, unqualified, anti-hunting CPW Commissioners, and now interim director Laura Clellan, an LGBTQ woman who has no professional wildlife management experience.

We must take this blatant removal of a qualified wildlife professional, for the sole purpose of replacing him with an unqualified liberal lacky, as a Call-to-Arms for all hunters and anyone who has the best interests of Colorado’s wildlife at heart. Colorado’s Governor has destroyed CPW’s ability to manage our wildlife by appointing unqualified flunkies to be CPW Commissioners, and now the interim director. These people ignore recommendations from CPW’s wildlife professionals and instead use their liberal alternative agenda’s and Ballot Box Biology to dictate policies/programs. This has subverted CPW‘s ability to professionally manage Colorado’s wildlife. 

This must stop! Although we can’t prevent Gov. Polis from making these devastating appointments, we can fire him.  Mark your calendars!  We must vote Gov. Polis out of office in the November election next year! Maybe we can even ask President Trump to give Polis his trademark “You’re Fired”!

Let this also be a warning to our neighboring states – don’t let this happen to you! Leftists are outnumbering common-sense Coloradans and voting in extremism. Get out and vote for responsible/professional individuals who will put your state wildlife’s needs ahead of their personal liberal agendas!