During its annual review of hunting license prices, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission voted to increase prices for out-of-state visitors wanting to hunt mountain lions and bears black.

Non-resident hunters will have to pay $293 for a black bear license and $823.28 for a mountain lion starting in January, according to the vote. This brings the bear permit to the average price in other Western states and the lion permit to the legal limit and represents an increase from $250 and $500 in 2024.

The 7-3 vote went against the recommendation of Parks and Wildlife staff, who suggested waiting until the agency can assess the full impact of significant increases in both types of permits last year.

However, Commissioner Eden Vardy proposed increasing both licenses for financial reasons and due to “public perception”.

“If there is a way to increase revenue in a way that doesn’t seem to have a significant impact on our voters, I think it’s our obligation to do it,” Vardy said.

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THE ethics And validity of mountain lion hunting generated significant public interest this year when a ballot measure called for Colorado to ban the practice. While the the measurement failedthe issue continued to be debated at the commission’s November meeting. Not only was it mentioned in this permit discussion, but commissioners heard more than an hour of public comments from hunting and wildlife advocates during a vote to approve a permit. mountain lion management plan in eastern Colorado.

The plan, which maintains hunting as the primary park and wildlife management tool for lions, received unanimous approval from the commission. The committee did not consider the agenda item to be the appropriate venue to rule on some of the issues raised by the ballot measure.

We are not voting on regulations today, we are debating and discussing this plan as presented,” said Chairman Dallas May. “Everything is confused in there.”

The last time Colorado voters weighed in on hunting regulations was in 1992, when they approved a ban on the use of black bear hunting dogs – currently the predominant method for lion hunting – and eliminated the spring hunting season.

Today, Parks and Wildlife offers limited annual hunting opportunities for black bears And mountain lions.

For the black bear, this includes several seasons in the fall. The dates coincide with other fall hunting seasons, such as elk and deer, which often makes bear permits an “add-on” for hunters. There is a mountain lion hunting season each year, extending from late November to March 31. Some years, an April season is added based on the number of kills during the regular season.

For lions and bears, residents make up the vast majority of hunting permits. In 2023, Colorado residents accounted for 76% of the bear permit draw and 80% of the mountain lion draw, according to Parks and Wildlife.

Resident permit prices for both species have already reached their legal limit and cannot be increased further. Nonresident fees for mountain lions and bears are among the few types of wildlife permits that do not already reach this cap.

The most recent price increase for out-of-state hunters comes a year after the commission made significant increases. For bears, the price increased from $100 to $250 for the 2024 season. For mountain lions, it increased from $387 to $500.

Although Parks and Wildlife does not yet have final data on mountain lion permits sold in 2024, it reported selling about 4,800 fewer bear permits this year as a result of the price hike. However, revenue increased by approximately $861,000. In 2023, the wildlife agency has accumulated $324,958 from 2,681 mountain lion hunting licenses.

The debate for increasing the price of hunting licenses oscillated between staff’s recommendation that leaving them alone for an extra year would allow more data to be collected, and Vardy’s argument for additional revenue and allay public concerns.

Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis warned that further price increases could hurt revenues.

“There is also an inflection point where if our prices are too high, we lose revenue,” Davis said.

Commissioner Marie Haskett – who joined Murphy Robinson and Tai Jacober in opposing the final vote for an increase – said it would be a “big mistake” to increase again without understanding all the impacts.

By lifting again, Haskett feared a “spiral effect,” impacting animal conflicts, increased game damage and lower sales.

“The voters of Colorado just spoke up and approved what we’re doing, particularly regarding mountain lions, and I think that flies in the face of what they said,” he said. she added.

Robinson said he prefers to make decisions based on data rather than voting based on “political motivations.”

Vardy argued the financial need was significant enough.

“I think this agency needs additional staff to deal with our game management challenges, we have to deal with everything that is presented to us,” Vardy said. “We have to deal with the massive amount of other wildlife we ​​have to work with. »
Ultimately, the motion passed 7-3, also adopting a 2.7% price increase for all licenses, aligned with the Consumer Price Index for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood region and an increase in commissions on sales. It has also made updates to align with the requirements of a Senate Bill 2024 on rates for seniors.