Colorado Governor Jared Polis has been in the spotlight after being accused of “stacking the Wildlife Commission with extreme animal rights and anti-hunting appointees since taking office in 2019.” These allegations have resonated among Colorado residents, as many hunting advocates have criticized the government.
Reports from the Colorado Sun indicate that opponents have accused the governor of appointing three new Parks and Wildlife commissioners who could shift the commission’s focus away from hunting and fishing: John Emerick, Christopher Sichko, and Frances Silva Blayney.
Critics dislike Emerick for his past advocacy with ColoradoWild, a wilderness and wildlife advocacy group, while Sichko has been criticized for his focus on rewilding, which involves restoring ecosystems by reducing human impact and reintroducing animals. Blayney, on the other hand, has been criticized for her lack of experience, as she only entered the fly-fishing business in 2023.
Before joining the commission, the three will still need to answer questions from the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
Colorado Residents Worried About Anti-Hunter Regulation
The debate surrounding the new commissioners sparked outrage on Reddit’s r/Colorado, as many people who aligned with hunters were unhappy with the governor’s actions. Some of them defended hunting as a way to conserve the environment: “Just because you’re a democrat doesn’t mean you’re pro-conservation. Hunting, paradoxically, is a form of wildlife conservation.”
Others had an even more heated reaction to this shift in the commission, saying, “That’s clearly the plan of this administration. Banning hunting, then banning guns, is the end goal of democrats. It’s not a particular secret.” However, some people did not understand the pro-hunting outcry. One user argued, “The hunters opposing this commission aren’t actually mad about being represented or the environment. They just don’t want to be restricted from killing predators and losing out on big game hunting. That is not actually conservation.”
Someone else responded, claiming that “The herding and big game hunting were here the entire time; the herd counts were increased with efforts brought by the purchase of licenses and access. You seem to forget that much of the damage to the environment has come from the tsunami of hiking, climbing, and other associated tourism.”
It remains to be seen how these new commissioners will change hunting and fishing in Colorado, but it is at least certain that hunters and their advocates will be watching them closely.
