RBC | Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s (CPW) newest director, Jeff Davis, joined RBC residents at the White River Alliance (WRA) monthly meeting via Zoom last week. WRA members met at Smoking River Brewery to hear Davis detail his focus and goals as director of the state agency. They also asked questions and engaged in a dialogue on subjects like habitat loss and protection efforts, winter-kill impacts and outlook, renewable energy siting, CPW finances and the rural/urban divide on issues directly related to CPW’s work.
WRA president Shawn Welder introduced Davis by highlighting his extensive experience in wildlife management and conservation, including 22 years as the Director of Conservation and Habitat Protection for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “My main focus on behalf of the agency was shaping conservation policy in Washington,” said Davis, noting the $30 million every two years the department received for non-game species conservation actions. He said he hoped to see something similar for Colorado to improve game management, species protection and habitat restoration/protection work.
Davis highlighted CPW’s mission statement as being the best in the country. “That’s not just because it perpetuates wildlife,” he said. “It also says we need to have a quality state park system and have enjoyable and sustainable outdoor recreation.”
The CPW Director highlighted his goals working with the department’s administration, noting they are motivated by his personal philosophy of “and” not “or” on issues like habitat conservation v. recreation, or ecosystem restoration v. industry operations. Another major emphasis Davis touched on was creating a better public dialogue. “If you go to a commission meeting and you have three minutes to give public testimony, that’s really not a dialogue,” said Davis. He said improving that dialogue would mean creating more opportunities for back and forth between constituents and CPW administration.
During Q&A, residents’ questions mostly focused on wolf reintroduction and the impacts of the latest winter-kill in which significant numbers of animals, including elk and other big-game species were lost due to heavy snowfall and other factors. He said efforts to address the situation are still underway as CPW biologists try to gain a better understanding of how populations were impacted and what a rebound in those populations will look like.
Davis addressed questions about wolf reintroduction specifics including numbers and locations for reintroduction. He said initial numbers planned will be about 10-15 wolves, noting that at least 100 locations are being examined for release but could not specify where would ultimately be selected due to uncertainty and considerations for safety of CPW staff.
