DOW approves Strategic Plan

DOW approves Strategic Plan

Jan. 19, 2002

BY THE COLORADO DIVISION OF WILDLIFE

DENVER — The Colorado Wildlife Commission has unanimously approved the Division of Wildlife’s Strategic Plan, which will chart the Division’s course for the next five years. The plan, which took eight months to develop, was adopted Jan. 11 at the Commission’s meeting at DOW headquarters in Denver.

"The Strategic Plan process was an opportunity for us to step away from our daily press of work to do some unrestrained, longer-view thinking about who we are, what we are doing and what we should be doing," said Division Director Russell George. "We’ll keep an eye and a hand on this document as we make our management decisions over the next four or five years. We’ll be guided by its spirit, its vision and its instruction."

The plan identifies 42 goals that are important to the fulfillment of the DOW’s mission of protecting, preserving, enhancing and managing wildlife and habitat as developed by four work groups, which were asked two questions in relation to four areas: Hunting, fishing, species conservation and stewardship and awareness. Those were "What do you want the division to do?" and "How do you want the division to do it?"

The work groups consisted of equal members of the public and employees of the DOW, and their recommendations were evaluated by a steering committee made up of the division’s leadership team, three wildlife commissioners and a representative from the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, which oversees the division. The committee also considered public comment and input from Division employees who weren’t part of the work groups.

Although achieving all the goals is important to the DOW, the plan identifies 10 items of the highest priority in coming years. Those goals were determined to be essential and could not be postponed without serious detrimental consequences to the Divisionmission. Those are:

-Aggressively research, identify, detect, contain and eliminate, when possible, diseases in free-ranging and captive wildlife that could negatively impact wildlife populations.

-Manage mule deer populations to meet DAU (data analysis unit, a geographic area where a particular herd resides) objectives.

-Protect, enhance and acquire high-priority deer and elk habitat (i.e. migration corridors, transition range and winter range). The Division will also strive to maintain, create and manage habitat to support the broadest sustainable wildlife populations.

-Increase hunter satisfaction by providing responsive customer service.

-Provide the number of fish needed to meet recreation objectives though natural and captive productivity.

-Protect coldwater habitats and fish from the whirling disease parasite.

-Expand wildlife conservation partnerships with private landowners.

-Preserve, protect and enhance wildlife species at risk of becoming threatened or endangered.

-Prioritize, develop and implement recovery plans for species listed as threatened or endangered.

-Through school-based programs, increase the number of Colorado students who learn about wildlife management and issues and how human actions affect wildlife and habitat.

These goals will come first in terms of resource allocation, and budget requests will be developed in accordance with the plan.

Each achievement in the plan has at least one "performance indicator," which will be used by the DOW, the Wildlife Commission and the public to gauge progress, and recommended means to meet the goal.

For example, there are two performance indicators for the high-priority goal to eliminate diseases in free-ranging and captive wildlife. Those are to contain chronic wasting disease to game management units where wild deer and elk have tested positive as of January 2002 and to reduce DOW prevalence to 1 percent of the animals in a DAU and 2 percent of the animals in a GMU. (The DAU figure is lower because some GMUs have a particularly high prevalence of CWD.) There are several recommended means, one of which is to create statewide surveillance and pursue research to identify diseases that could potentially affect wildlife populations.

The plan is not intended to be an exclusive list of activities to be undertaken by the division. In fact, the vast majority of the Division’s activities are not covered in the plan. The plan is intended to highlight those issues that will be at the forefront of Colorado’s wildlife management in the next five years.

To achieve all of the objectives covered by the plan, the division may have to find additional revenue sources, shift existing resources and reduce or eliminate nonessential activities. As part of the plan, the division will work with interested members of the public and organizations to help evaluate the need for additional funding.

The DOW will also work to make sure diverse views are sought and considered in decisions that affect the state’s wildlife.

The Strategic Plan was developed after the Wildlife Commission early last year directed the DOW to update its 1994 Long-Range Plan. The Commission agreed that the time had come to analyze the previous plan and take the opportunity to re-evaluate resource allocation consistent with the changing landscape of wildlife management, said Director George. Wildlife resource demands have changed dramatically in the years since the last plan was developed, as have methods for funding the division, George said.

"Scores of DOW employees and members of the public donated their time and brainpower to this project over the past few months, and the Strategic Plan is the blueprint that evolved from this work," George said.

Mike King, of the Division’s Human Dimensions section, helped get the new plan put together. He said a number of people deserved "sincerest gratitude" for their efforts. Work group members received no compensation, but attended a number of intense meetings over the course of four months. King said the public was also helpful, providing 80 formal comments, as were Division employees who weren’t part of the work groups but reviewed the plan and shared their thoughts.