Wildlife Commission to consider whirling disease regulations

Wildlife Commission to consider Whirling disease regulations

November 6, 2001

THE COLORADO DIVISION OF WILDLIFE

PUEBLO — The Colorado Wildlife Commission will consider regulations concerning whirling disease, the Ranching for Wildlife program and coyote, mountain lion and turkey hunting at its meeting this Thursday and Friday, Nov. 8-9, in Pueblo.

The Commission will also give preliminary consideration to permanent importation restrictions on deer and elk and to regulations on bow hunting, falconry and review a draft of the Total Licensing Project.

The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Marriott Hotel, 110 W. First St.

The whirling disease regulations would prohibit the operation of disease-positive salmonid fish-production facilities and the stocking of disease-positive fish in salmonid habitat beginning in 2003.

Big game regulations under consideration would allow the taking of coyotes on an unfilled big game license in the same unit and by the same method as the unfilled license. Coyote hunting would be allowed during the big game season, and the hunter would not have to purchase a small game or furbearer license.

The commission will also consider annual changes to mountain lion hunting regulations, including season dates for 2002, harvest quotas and opening or closing some game management units to mountain lion hunting.

Small game regulations up for consideration are the final adoption of limited turkey hunting regulations for the spring and fall 2002 hunting seasons, which would modify turkey season dates to reflect calendar cycling and push the season back one week. The regulations would also establish limited license units, season dates and license numbers for those units, and the Commission will consider closing some units.

For the Ranching for Wildlife program, the commission will consider authority for the Division of Wildlife director to approve enrollments of qualifying ranches, setting hunting season dates, license numbers and hunt provisions.

Preliminary consideration will be given to a citizen proposal to increase minimum standards for legal handheld bows and archery equipment, including but not limited to the definition of a handheld bow, minimum draw weights and maximum mechanical drawing advantage.

The commission will consider draft regulations that put restrictions on transporting carcasses of deer and elk killed in the chronic wasting disease endemic area and prohibit the importation of live deer and elk unless the source herd has been under a CWD surveillance program for 5 years. Importation would be allowed without the surveillance if documentation exists proving that any deaths in the source herd were not due to CWD. The importation regulation would come up for final adoption at the Commission’s workshop in December.

A citizen petition to allow the live take of eyas peregrine falcons for falconry will also be considered and a draft of the Total Licensing Project will be reviewed.