Our View

 CWF's report has just been released : "Northwest Colorado's Wildlife Habitat Today: Are We Losing Our Heritage?"  Download pdf below under  Our Stand.  To order a copy of the report, call 303-987-0400 x1 or email cwfed@coloradowildlife.org

The Colorado Wildlife Federation is Colorado’s oldest and most effective wildlife conservation organization. We are advocates for our state’s wildlife. Our membership includes hunters, anglers and wildlife viewers who believe in the stewardship of a wildlife population that defines our state heritage and traditions.

The unprecedented energy development that is changing our Rocky Mountain landscape threatens iconic native species such as mule deer, sage grouse and Colorado River cutthroat trout. These impacts have been documented by respected wildlife biologists, including CWF members. As Coloradans and Americans, we recognize the need for responsible energy development. Yet we also know that energy development need not, and must not, jeopardize our remarkable wildlife resource and the sustainable economy that depends upon healthy populations and habitats.   On December 11, 2008, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission adopted rules that provide minimum protections to wildlife in areas designated as "sensitive wildlife habitat."  In our view, they represent a compromise.  While the rules do not provide the level of protections for wildlife that we advocated, they do offer minimum protections.   See a summary of the wildlife provisions on this page under Our Stand [left below].   The Colorado General Assembly passed the rules review bill on March 25, 2009.  The bill was signed by the Governor on April 22.   The rules became effective April 1 on private land and May 1 on federal public lands in Colorado managed by the BLM and US Forest Service.

The Colorado Wildlife Federation focuses on ensuring that this natural bounty be sustained. Our mission is to serve as determined stewards of our state’s wildlife and the winter range, migration corridors, reproduction areas and waterways they depend on to survive.

We will not shy away from this formidable challenge.  As advocates for wildlife, we will demand that the needs of wildlife be fully considered and addressed during the planning processes before energy development begins, not as an afterthought.

Colorado’s wildlife is worth sustaining. As an organization, we intend to assure our wildlife heritage is handed down for generations to come.