CO Mountain Lion Ballot Initiative: Continuous Updates

[TheTone]

I hope this continues to hold until all ballots are counted. Honestly a bit of a bummer it was so close. I fear this will be back again, hopefully it won’t even make it to the ballot next time

 

[Nameless Range]

Well done Colorado. A hell of a lot of effort put into communication seems to have really paid off.

 

[TexanSam]

A little off topic here but I never once thought of going mountain lion hunting, but after hearing/reading/watching all things mountain lions, it kind of sparked my interest for them. Maybe a lion hunt will be a graduation present I give to myself (once grad school is complete)

 

[jimss]

It was a wise choice in advertising to point out to the often confused and un-educated public that ecological and wildlife decisions should be made by CPW experts that have years of education, experience, and knowledge rather than leaving these decision up to public vote.

Looking county by county across Colorado, it is clearly evident that the dominate support for this and the previous wolf proposition were counties with big cities where voters have little knowledge base to make these types of decisions. Most of these citizens have no clue about the long-term negative ecological impacts and consequences from their decisions.

It is evident that until a statewide initiative is put into place that allows the CPW to solely make science-based wildlife management decisions that similar propositions will continue to be placed on public ballots.

The next step would be to put a proposition on the next ballot that allows the CPW to make these decisions and eliminates the ballot box.

 

[TexanSam]

It was a wise choice in advertising to point out to the often confused and un-educated public that ecological and wildlife decisions should be made by CPW experts that have years of education, experience, and knowledge rather than leaving these decision up to public vote.

Looking county by county across Colorado, it is clearly evident that the dominate support for this and the previous wolf proposition were counties with big cities where voters have little knowledge base to make these types of decisions. Most of these citizens have no clue about the long-term negative ecological impacts and consequences from their decisions.

It is evident that until a statewide initiative is put into place that allows the CPW to solely make science-based wildlife management decisions that similar propositions will continue to be placed on public ballots.

The next step would be to put a proposition on the next ballot that allows the CPW to make these decisions and eliminates the ballot box.

Didn't Arizona do something like that recently?

 

[seeth07]

The next step would be to put a proposition on the next ballot that allows the CPW to make these decisions and eliminates the ballot box.

Absolutely. The focus in CO should be a massive push to get something into state statute preventing ballot box biology in the future

 

[jimss]

Here is an interesting article. It mentions that 23 states currently have right to hunt and fish amendments. The CATS organization may have actually cut their own throats with what they did in Colorado this year! Other states have closely watched what happened in Colorado and will likely protect wildlife, hunting, and fishing interests with new bills and amendments in the coming years.​

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2024 Voting Guide for Hunters & Fishermen​

Three key bills on the ballot in Arizona, Colorado, and Florida will impact state hunting & fishing rights.​

Nov 01, 2024
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Colorado: NO on Prop 127​

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Four years after the state’s disastrous wolf reintroduction bill, Colorado voters will face more ballot box biology. Proposition 127 would ban big cat hunting and management.
If Prop 127 passes, ranchers will no longer be eligible for big game damage claims for livestock killed by mountain lions.

An op-ed in the Denver Post warns that the bill’s wording is dangerously vague.

Proposition 127 is not a carefully worded regulation of hunting practices that ensures the critical principles of “fair chase.” It is a complete ban that would open up a slippery slope for all hunting across Colorado.

According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), managed mountain lion hunting has not hurt mountain lion populations—in fact, it has helped these species recover. There were only a few hundred mountain lions in Colorado in the 1960s; today there are 4,500.
Lynx hunting is already prohibited in the United States. So is trophy hunting; hunters are required by law to prepare harvested mountain lion meat for consumption.
California is the only other state with a mountain lion hunting ban, passed in 1990. Today, researchers have found that California mountain lions are still killed by human causes more often than natural death.

Florida: YES on Amendment 2​

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Voting “yes” on Amendment 2 will forever preserve hunting and fishing as a right in the state constitution.
After passing the Florida legislature almost unanimously, with one Democrat holdout, at least 60% of the state must vote yes to amend the constitution.
23 states have passed right to hunt and fish amendments.
The Vote Yes on 2 website says this amendment protects against radical anti-hunting bills:

Hunting and fishing bans were considered in at least a dozen states in 2022. The worst of which was a ballot initiative in Oregon that would have criminalized hunting, fishing and farming. This radical proposal missed being added to the ballot in Oregon by only 20,000 signatures in 2022.

Arizona: YES on Prop 134​

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Proposition 134 in Arizona is another effort to prevent extremist bills like those in Colorado.
If passed, voters from all 30 Arizona legislative districts must support a ballot measure before it can be voted on.
Pro-hunting groups like HOWL For Wildlife support Prop 134:

Ballot Box Biology, as we've recently seen in states like Colorado, is a real danger to science-based wildlife management. Currently Arizona could see ballot box biology on their ballot with ALL of the required signatures for a ballot initiative coming from Maricopa County alone. Prop. 134 would require ballot measures to receive support from registered voters from each of the 30 legislative districts in Arizona. Prop. 134 would ensure that all of Arizona’s communities have a say in what makes the ballot.

 

[tormenter]

Close, not quite. Still haven’t heard from all of Denver yet.

72% of the state votes have been counted and we have a 263K vote lead.

I am showing that 50% of the votes have been counted in Denver and thus far Yes votes are 30K above the NO votes. Even if this trend holds we are still up 260K votes as of right now, so if we gave up another 30K Denver votes we are solid.

The Denver Fur Ban and Slaughter House Closures - I believe have I read they had both been defeated.

 

[perma]

72% of the state votes have been counted and we have a 263K vote lead.

I am showing that 50% of the votes have been counted in Denver and thus far Yes votes are 30K above the NO votes. Even if this trend holds we are still up 260K votes as of right now, so if we gave up another 30K Denver votes we are solid.

The Denver Fur Ban and Slaughter House Closures - I believe have I read they had both been defeated.

Holding my breath though..

 

[lastlight]

We live in a world filled with soulless meat sticks that have no morals and flat out blatantly lie to their neighbors face. This quote represents the worst people in the country. Same kind of human that will parrot CNN how Don called for Liz’s execution by firing squad.

“Honest, Science based, misinformation” lies, lies , and more lies.

“Supporters of the measure did not concede Tuesday. At a watch party in Boulder, Cats Aren’t Trophies campaign manager Samantha Miller tearfully said the group had run a “thoughtful, honest and science-based campaign,” which she said ran into misinformation by the opposition. But Miller celebrated the campaign’s progress and votes across the state.”

 

[LuketheDog]

Holding my breath though..

Starting to let mine out a little...

Can't thank Dan Gates and CRWM enough for their hard work!

 

[Oak]

I'm surprised it hasn't been called yet. My math suggests it can't catch up if remaining Denver and Boulder Counties votes continue to break the same way, and those are the only two counties that can make a difference.

Boulder: ~82,550 votes remaining, at 59/41 in favor would be 48,705/33,845
Denver: ~283,118 votes remaining, at 57/43 in favor would be 161,378/121,740

That's a net gain for the yes side of 54,498 votes. The margin is still over 200k votes.

 

[Schaaf]

I'm surprised it hasn't been called yet. My math suggests it can't catch up if remaining Denver and Boulder Counties votes continue to break the same way, and those are the only two counties that can make a difference.

Boulder: ~82,550 votes remaining, at 59/41 in favor would be 48,705/33,845
Denver: ~283,118 votes remaining, at 57/43 in favor would be 161,378/121,740

That's a net gain for the yes side of 54,498 votes. The margin is still over 200k votes.

Yep. Zero reason it hasn’t been called yet.