Ballot initiatives in Colorado & why hunters everywhere should be paying attention!

In fact, it seems to be an actual human characteristic that any person who loves the pursuit of wild game also hates all things politics. Hunters just want to be in the woods. They want to be surrounded by the sounds of nature. They want to stand around a campfire with their family/friends and share stories about previous hunting experiences. They want to dream about future hunting adventures, and they want to pick up this magazine, look at pictures, and plan their trip of a lifetime hunt in New Mexico. Hunters 100% do not want to read an article about ballot initiatives.

I know this all too well. In preparing for this article, I asked my husband for guidance and his eyes glazed over almost immediately. Attempting to find words to captivate a sportsman's attention when the story doesn't begin with "while hunting this weekend" is proving to be amazingly difficult. But that is actually the point. We have got to find a way to make the average hunter care about what is going on with hunting laws at the state level before there are no states left to hunt.

Yes, elk hunting in New Mexico will likely continue for the foreseeable future. But, as unnatural as it may seem, protecting elk hunting 50 years from now starts with protecting mountain lion hunting today.

Anti-hunting organizations have one ultimate objective, to rewild nonurban landscapes with enough predator species that human wildlife management (i.e. hunting) cannot be supported by the prey base. Meaning, the end goal is to stop ALL hunting. But the first step in this process is to pedestalize predator species by reintroducing various species of predator (wolves/grizzlies), to capitalize on the Disneyfication of carnivores (mislead people into thinking all are harmless, loving & cuddly creatures), and to illegalize predator hunting in every state. Anti-hunting groups have already been working on this step for several decades and have made significant progress. But they recently stumbled across a method that could expedite their efforts exponentially.

And here's where we get to Colorado ballot initiatives. Back in 2019 anti-hunting groups in Colorado ran a bill in the state legislature to reintroduce gray wolves. The bill was solidly voted down by Legislators in its first committee. That should have been the end of the story, but we all know it wasn't. After the legislation was killed, a nonprofit called the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project created a "citizen-initiated ballot measure" to mandate wolf reintroduction and bypass the state legislature entirely. The issue was placed on the CO state ballot in 2020, a presidential election year. Despite our side's efforts to educate voters on the fact that wolves are already naturally establishing themselves in CO as well as the dangers of having too many wolves in a state with such a large urban population, the measure passed with 51% of the vote. Urban voters primarily voted Yes, and the majority of rural CO voted No.

Anti-hunting groups heralded the wolf reintroduction ballot initiative as an easy win and are starting to pivot future efforts away from legislation and towards citizen-initiated ballot measures. In 2019, 2020 and 2021, after coming up short and failing on 3 separate petitions through the CO Parks and Wildlife Commission, and then introducing legislation that again failed in its first committee hearing in the Colorado State Capitol, the nonprofit Cats Aren't Trophies filed a ballot initiative to "Ban Trophy Hunting" in September 2023. The initiative would ban the hunting of mountain lions, bobcats, and Canada lynx (even though lynx are currently protected under State and Federal law). The initiative would be placed on the 2024 CO state ballot, also a presidential election year. Sportsmen have filed a petition with the Colorado Supreme Court to block the initiative (91) based on its misleading title. But Cats Aren't Trophies simply filed another citizen-initiated ballot measure (101) in November 2023 which is written slightly different (with a different title) but would do essentially the same thing. This new initiative (101) would allow a two-week hunting season for mountain lions and bobcats at the end of December, at the discretion of the CO Parks and Wildlife Commission but hunters would be prevented from using dogs and would NOT be allowed to keep the animal hide or head (only the edible portions).

While there is a process for filing a ballot initiative, that process provides very little restriction on the type of issue that can be pushed forward to the ballot. The only real requirements for the entity filing the initiative are that the language of the initiative be clear, the title not be misleading, and the entity filing the initiative gather signatures of support for the measure. The signature requirement is five percent of the total votes cast in the previous general election. In the case of these two anti-hunting initiatives that's roughly 125,000 signatures (not much for a state with a population of 6 million). It is extremely likely that one of these initiatives will be allowed onto the 2024 CO state ballot.

The answer to that question is threefold. First and most importantly, Colorado is not the only state that allows for citizen-initiated ballot measures. You might not realize that when California banned mountain lion hunting back in 1990 it was by citizen-initiated ballot measure and not through the state legislature. In fact, New Mexico is the only western state that does NOT allow citizen-initiated ballot measures (a fact that should significantly help us prevent NM from turning into Colorado or California). 

But the fact that nearly all western states allow citizen-initiated ballot measures means anti-hunting groups can be expected to ramp up ballot initiative efforts across the west. Based on voter demographics the anti-hunting groups might have a hard time succeeding in Utah or Wyoming but hunters in Montana should be very worried! Second, citizen-initiated ballot measures are ridiculously easy to file, and they allow voters to decide the fate of multi-faceted, extremely complicated issues by simply marking yes or no after reading (or not reading) a one paragraph summary of the issue. Very, very few people will take the time to go to the secretary of state's website and read the actual text of the entire initiative. This process additionally eliminates input from professionals, government agencies and nongovernmental entities. Such as state wildlife agencies, game commissions, land management agencies, and sportsmen organizations. Input from these entities is customary in a typical legislative law-making procedure. And it is not uncommon for it to take more than 5 years to pass a law through the state legislature due to the complexity of discussions that take place between Legislators and industry during the legislative process. Citizen-initiated ballot measures, on the other hand, can be ramrodded through the ballot box and become law in less than a year.

Third, ballot initiatives are extremely expensive to fight. And I'm talking millions of dollars more expensive than fighting legislation in a state legislature. Fighting laws that are being decided on by public opinion require extensive media campaigns to persuade the millions of resident voters across all walks of life and of all interests and areas of expertise (or ignorance).

Anti-hunting organizations have no problem funding media campaigns. These organizations perfected their funding mechanism decades ago and they are all flush with cash. Even though there are hundreds of small, local anti-hunting nonprofits across the US, they are all funded by the same 5 monster organizations. Humane Society of the United States, Wild Earth Guardians, Earth Island Institute (funds Project Coyote, Wild Futures, and Wildlife for All), The Rewilding Institute (funds NM Wild and many others), and ActBlue (a political action committee that helps fund left-leaning nonprofits including Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, and Sierra Club). Unfortunately, pro-hunting nonprofit organizations are neither well-funded nor well connected with one another. Sadly, it often seems like we spend more time fighting amongst ourselves than we do fighting back as a unified voice against the anti-hunting movement.

So, how can the average hunter who just wants to be alone in the woods help to slow the speeding freight train that is the anti-hunting movement. For starters you can help support nonprofits who are fighting to protect hunter's rights at the state level. Just because you support a conservation organization does not mean you are helping to protect your local hunting laws. Many conservation organizations are actually prohibited from engaging in political activities such as lobbying as a requirement of their nonprofit status. 501(c)3 organizations cannot use their resources to lobby. Only non-charitable organizations that are 501(c)4 or 501(c)6 can exclusively advocate for hunter's rights in the state legislature. If you give to a conservation organization, make sure that organization also works together with a local advocacy group to protect the existing state hunting laws. Also, there are several hunting organizations that provide advocacy efforts but only at the federal level. Federal laws do matter but it's important to understand that anti-hunting laws are primarily made at the state level. Advocacy organizations that only monitor state laws from a 30-thousand-foot level miss a lot of the day-to-day state politics that can make or break a local industry. Support the local nonprofits that are protecting hunting in the state where you live, hunt, or dream to hunt. In Colorado's case that Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management ww.savethehuntcolorado.com. This organization is the tip of the spear when it comes to fighting the current CO ballot initiatives. And they are also leading the charge to establish a funding mechanism that other pro-hunting organizations can use to fight future ballot initiatives in other western states. And finally, if you do not want, or simply can't support financially, pay attention to what is going on in your state legislature and with the hunting laws in your home state. Learn about the law-making process in your state and how it relates to wildlife laws. Attend game commission meetings (most are virtual or hybrid these days). And when your legislature is in session follow along with the bill introduction. You'll be shocked to find that many of them could have an impact on your ability to be a hunter. And when you read legislation that you don't like, reach out to your state elected officials right away.

We will never be able to financially catch up to the anti-hunting movement. But if we work together and pool our resources, we can win! Science and common sense are on our side. We just need to convince ourselves that turning a blind eye and ignoring the problem is not an effective strategy. 

Kerrie Cox Romero is the lobbyist for the New Mexico Council of Outfitters and Guides. 2024 will be her 12th Legislative Session. She is a born and raised New Mexican. A proud NM resident huntress. A mediocre fisherwoman. And a non-resident hunter & angler of 49 other states. She is a private property rights advocate that also spends a great deal of time recreating on NM public lands. She lives in central New Mexico with her husband and three children.