Hello Keep Routt Wild followers!

We have a full newsletter this month but, equally important, we are hosting an open house along with the Steamboat Art Museum on March 14. Details below.

For those unfamiliar with Keep Routt Wild, we are a community organization dedicated to preserving wildlife and wild places in Routt County. Our mission is to promote policies and practices for the benefit of conserving the Yampa Valley for future generations of outdoor enthusiasts by balancing opportunities for recreational development with the habitat needs of wildlife.

Articles for this month’s newsletter are:

• Keep Routt Wild Open House - Join us!

• Mad Rabbit Trails Project Update

• Noxious Weed Legislation Moves Forward

• Feline Hunting Ban Proposed for November Ballot

• What we’ve been reading and watching

• Quote of the Day

To find out more about Keep Routt Wild, go to our website, or follow our nearly daily postings on Facebook.

Keep Routt Wild Open House – Come Join Us!

Image courtesy of Steamboat Art Museum

We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting an Open House in cooperation with the Steamboat Art Museum at their location at 807 Lincoln Ave, Steamboat Springs, CO. It will occur Thursday, March 14 from 4:30pm to 6:30pm.

Come by to meet and chat with our Board of Directors, learn what we are up to, while enjoying some stunning wildlife art. It’s a fantastic venue presenting a special exhibit “Wild West: Wildlife Masters, Past and Present,” a captivating showcase of artwork that vividly portrays the diverse and enchanting wildlife found in the western United States. It offers a unique opportunity to explore the rich natural heritage of the American West through a stunning collection of wildlife art.

We’ll be serving refreshments. There is no entry fee or other obligation. Join us and other conservation-minded people at this special event!

Mad Rabbit Trails Update

There is no new news to report on the Mad Rabbit Trails Project, which is news by itself.

As we reported in our January Newsletter, the Forest Service rejected all objections to the project. However, the Reviewing Officer (Forest Supervisor Russ Bacon) simultaneously sent 15 instructions to the Responsible Official (District Ranger Michael Woodbridge). These instructions must be completed before Mad Rabbit is approved. Those instructions have yet to be completed when we went to press, and no date has been set for their completion. This essentially keeps us in a holding pattern waiting for the instructions to be completed before taking our own next steps.

You can review the entire record of the Mad Rabbit Trails Project in reverse chronological order on our Mad Rabbit webpage to see the latest breaking news.

Noxious Weed Legislation Moves Forward

Kudos to KRW Board member Cedar Beauregard, who testified in favor of SB24-031 at the Colorado Senate January 25. The proposed law allows local enforcement of noxious weeds in place of the circuitous method now required. Noxious weeds are invasive plant species that often spread rapidly and displace the native plants that provide habitat, food, and shelter for wildlife. The bill passed out of committee 4-3. Well done, Cedar!

Feline Hunting Ban Proposed for November Ballot

Signatures are being collected for a ballot initiative that would ban the hunting of mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx across Colorado. Currently labeled as Initiative 91 (that number will change if it makes it to the ballot), it would remove authority from CPW (Colorado Parks and Wildlife) to manage feline populations through hunting.

We’ve been asked our position on the initiative. It should come as no surprise that we oppose this measure, as we opposed a similar legislative proposal two years ago, and for the same reasons. Simply put, we support science-based wildlife management by the biologists at CPW and oppose “ballot box” biology. We are particularly concerned that out-of-state actors seem to be targeting Colorado, exploiting its initiative process to remove wildlife management authority from this important state agency piece by piece.

Morever, this proposal is simply unnecessary. We note that under the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation as practiced by CPW, the recovery of the mountain lion population in Colorado has been nothing less than spectacular. The population has soared to between 3800 and 4400 adults in Colorado and has likely contributed to the natural reestablishment of populations in the Dakotas and Nebraska. Similarly, bobcats are thriving with an estimated Colorado population of 12,000. Only the lynx is threatened, and Colorado already prohibits the hunting of lynx.

The initiative would take away a powerful tool from CPW to manage predator and prey populations. Lions are effective hunters, averaging the equivalent of a deer a week. At an estimated adult population of 4,000, that is approximately 200,000 deer culled each year from an estimated 400,000 total deer in Colorado. When prey populations plummet, as in the recent severe winter, predator loading can significantly impact a recovery. We have more confidence in CPW managing these complex interactions than relying on emotional appeals at the ballot box. For more information, we direct you to this well-written FAQ about lions, bobcats, and lynx developed by CPW.

We love these big cats. These apex predators truly add the “wild” to the Routt County landscape. Nevertheless, Initiative 91 is misguided and counter to modern science-based wildlife management. We ask our followers not to sign the ballot petitions and, if it makes it to the ballot in November, to vote against it.

What we’ve been reading and watching

(Click on any title to read the article)

Chronic Wasting Disease May Transmit to Humans, Research Finds

“This does not mean that CWD is zoonotic. We're far away from that,” she says. “This study is really important to make people aware that CWD in humans might be completely different from what's expected and from other known prion diseases. And that it could have the potential to transmit from human to human.”

Reintroduction? Wolverine experts say Routt high elevations would be great habitat

"Assuming the reintroduction process moves forward in Colorado, releasing wolverines likely trapped from Canada would not happen before 2026, Ivan said. The initial plan is to release 10 females and five males each year for three years in three high-elevation zones."

Colorado Senate panel rejects Gov. Jared Polis' nominees to wildlife commission

"Last year, Gov. Jared Polis appointed three people — allegedly with ties to the animal rights community — to the state's parks and wildlife commission."

"The nominations of Gary Skiba and Jessica Beaulieu, who were appointed to represent sportspersons (hunters and anglers) and outdoor recreation and state parks, respectively, were both rejected on 4-3 votes."

"Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Summit County, who chairs the ag committee, served as the swing vote on all three nominations, voting with Republicans against Skiba and Beaulieu and with his fellow Democrats to recommend Murphy."

Do wolves actually fix habitats and change rivers? Here’s what new research from Colorado says

“It’s pretty well known that if you take apex predators out of food webs, there are enduring consequences for the ecosystems,” Hobbs said. “But what’s not known is what happens when you put predators back, when they’ve been gone for a long time. That’s a really important ecological question.”

“The popular but incorrect narrative posits that the wolves caused the [Yellowstone] elk population to drop, which allowed willows to grow again and the ecosystem to revert to its prior condition. But that’s not what the researchers found.”

Colorado bear encounters dropped in 2023. Here’s why.

“Wildlife officers relocated 33 bears and euthanized 63 bears last year, the lowest number of euthanasias in at least eight years, according to previous reporting.”

“While a late freeze and drought impacted food sources in some areas of the state in 2022, most of the state saw warm enough temperatures and enough precipitation this year to produce enough natural forage for bears.”

Quote of the Day