As Colorado’s national forests prepare for the summer recreation season, the U.S. Forest Service is sharing five things visitors need to know about wildlife, wildfires and human waste.

Colorado has 11 national forests, including the nation’s most visited, White River National Forest, which spans over 2.3 million acres and attracts over 13 million visitors annually. In the spring and summer, visitors flock to the federal public lands for hiking, biking, climbing, fishing, horseback riding, hunting and camping.

“Whatever camping experience you are after, think about these five things — planning ahead, checking the latest rules and regulations, storing your food properly, being proactive about human waste, and using common sense with fire,” White River National Forest Developed Recreation Program Manager Paula Peterson said in a statement.

National forest visitors who book a reservation at a developed campground ahead of time on Recreation.gov don’t have to worry about finding a dispersed site, which can sometimes be difficult on busy weekends or holidays, according to a news release. Developed campgrounds in the White River National Forest open as early as mid-May and popular sites often book up quickly. 

Proper food storage is always necessary in Colorado’s national forests due to black bears, according to the news release. National forest officials said black bears become accustomed to eating human food very easily, which can result in the bear being killed for human safety.

The White River National Forest has a food-storage order, requiring food to be stored in a bear-resistant container or vehicle at all of its developed campgrounds and many dispersed camping sites to help prevent human-wildlife conflicts. For more information on those orders and which campgrounds they apply to, visit FS.USDA.gov/r02/whiteriver/alerts/food-storage-order.

While nobody likes to talk about it, campers and backpackers also have to be ready to deal with going to the bathroom in the woods. Vault toilets are one of the advantages of choosing developed campgrounds, but those staying at dispersed campgrounds won’t have the same luxury, according to the news release.

The White River National Forest “strongly recommends” dispersed campers pack out solid human waste instead of digging a hole to bury waste. At the Homestake Valley Campground on the Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District, carrying out solid waste is required.

As Colorado faces drought conditions, national forest visitors need to use common sense with fire and respect any fire restrictions that are in place, according to the news release. To check current fire restrictions, visit FS.USDA.gov/r02/whiteriver/fire/info.

If fires are allowed, officials said campers at developed campgrounds must use the metal rings provided and some should use the metal rings if they’re dispersed sites, according to the news release. Guests should never leave the fire unattended and completely extinguish it so that it is cool to the touch, before leaving. It is recommended that backpackers use gas stoves rather than light campfires. Campers should only burn paper and wood and should not burn trash, plastic or cans.

Fifty years ago, Colorado Parks and Wildlife took steps to return the river otter to waterways across the state. Now, the agency has dedicated the next 12 months to documenting how the playful, water-loving mammals are doing — and it wants the public’s help.

On Monday, April 13, Parks and Wildlife launched a program to track the success of its reintroduction efforts five decades later. With what it’s calling the Otter YEAR, short for yearlong engagement and assessment of river otters, the wildlife agency will be documenting the places where the mammals live and gauging their population size. 

Parks and Wildlife staff and partner organizations will be conducting population surveys and submitting observations through the iNaturalist app — a community science and social network platform that allows users to record, identify and track flora and fauna. The agency has planned efforts in the Yampa, Green, Colorado and Gunnison rivers. 

The state wildlife agency is also inviting members of the public to record observations in the app and help build a clear picture of what the animals are up to. The information collected this year will “inform future conservation work, including potential reintroduction efforts into suitable habitats that remain unoccupied,” according to a Parks and Wildlife news release. 

“This year’s survey will help us understand the extent of reintroduction success and any limitations to it,” said Bob Inman, Parks and Wildlife’s river otter program manager, in a statement. 

What is a river otter? 

River otters are Colorado’s largest — and longest — aquatic weasel, sharing some key differences and similarities with other species like beavers, muskrats and mink, according to Parks and Wildlife. 

The “critical role” that river otters play in maintaining the biodiversity and health of aquatic ecosystems, makes the predator a keystone species, the state wildlife agency said. “If the population is increasing it indicates the ecosystem is healthy,” it added. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service compares river otters’ size to that of an average house cat. Parks and Wildlife reports that most grow to between 3-4.5 feet long. They have a rich, brown-colored coat and a silvery brown belly. 

The keystone species are described as comfortable swimmers, playful, determined, energetic and sleek. Otters often stay in groups, compared to the more lonesome beavers and muskrats. As a predator, the river otters eat mostly crayfish, frogs and fish, but will also eat young muskrats and beavers. 

Physically, river otters have a long, torpedo-like body with a tube-like tail — compared to the rounder body and bald, wide flat tail of beavers and the rounder body and bald, rate-like tail of muskrats. 

According to Parks and Wildlife, otters spend most of their time in the water using their slim body and tails to swim in eel-like patterns. 

When swimming, the otter takes the appearance of a periscope, typically keeping only their heads and necks above water, often even stretching their heads higher to look around. Beavers, muskrats and mink all swim flat on the water surface with most of their bodies visible.   

When out of the water, otters live in bank dens abandoned by beavers, according to Parks and Wildlife.

Colorado’s river otter reintroduction effort

Historically, river otters could be found in every major river in Colorado. However, in the early 1900s, they were eradicated completely due to water pollution as well as unregulated hunting and trapping, according to Parks and Wildlife. They were first listed as state endangered in 1975.

The last confirmed river otter in Colorado was identified and hunted sometime between 1906 and 1909 in the lower canyon of the Yampa River, as reported in Parks and Wildlife’s 2003 river otter conservation plan.  

Between 1976 and 1991, the state wildlife agency underwent a reintroduction effort to bring back the keystone species. Around 120 river otters were brought from other states and released in Cheeseman Reservoir, the Gunnison River, the Piedra River, the stretch of the upper Colorado River that runs through Rocky Mountain National Park and the Dolores River. 

River otters have since expanded into other waterways like the Roaring Fork, Eagle, Fraser, Blue, Yampa and Green rivers. 

This reintroduction effort led river otters to be downlisted from state endangered in Colorado to threatened in 2003. 

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wrapped the 50th anniversary of river otter reintroduction into other big milestones for the state. 

“While the nation’s semiquincentennial and Colorado’s sesquicentennial may take the splashy headlines, we are also celebrating an important anniversary for Colorado’s river otters,” Polis said in a statement. “These slippery, but playful, creatures play an important role in strengthening the health of our rivers and we have seen river otter populations successfully spread across the Western Slope ahead of this milestone anniversary of their reintroduction.”

Colorado Parks and Wildlife will consider a potential ban on the commercial sale of furbearers at its July commission meeting. 

The idea for a ban on the commercial sale, barter or trade of furs from furbearer species — a classification that includes 17 wildlife species like​​ foxes, beavers, coyotes, bobcats and other mesocarnivores — came from a citizen petition brought to Parks and Wildlife last year by a Colorado representative of the Center of Biological Diversity. 

The commission approved the petition in March, against the recommendation of Parks and Wildlife staff, initiating a formal rulemaking process on the proposed ban. 

Now, Parks and Wildlife is seeking public input on the proposal to inform staff’s development of an issue paper that will be presented to the commission during its July 16-17 meetings. The agency will be accepting input from the public through May 3 on EngageCPW.org.  

The proposed ban — and agency’s overall management of these 17 species — has been a topic of much debate at commission meetings for many months.  

In Colorado, furbearers can be hunted with the purchase of ​​a $10 permit available to individuals who purchase a small game license. In its 2024-25 fiscal year, the agency sold 19,620 furbearer permits. While there are currently no limits on the number that a furbearer permit-holder can kill of these species, the agency has had initial discussions about potentially imposing a daily limit.   

Samantha Miller, a Grand Lake resident and the senior carnivore campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity who submitted the petition, has referred to the ban of commercial sale for furbearer furs as a “common sense change” and “low bar” that aligns furbearers with how Colorado manages other wildlife species. Miller and other supporters of the ban argue that allowing the commercial sale of furs incentivizes overharvesting of the animals and threatens overall biodiversity. 

In her recommendation to the commission, Laura Clellan, the newly appointed Parks and Wildlife director, wrote that the agency’s main rationale for denying the ban on commercial fur sales is that the petition “lacks solid evidence that commercial fur sales drive harvest levels in Colorado.”

Opponents of the petition supported the agency’s stance and have argued that the state’s current furbearer management works and is backed by science. Many claim that the proposed commercial ban represents a greater attack on hunting and trapping, which represents an important tradition in Colorado and supports conservation.

Colorado’s black bears are beginning to stir with the first signs of spring. 

While the spring wake-up for bears comes right on schedule, this winter’s historically low snowpack, record high temperatures and deepening drought conditions could impact bear behavior in ways that remain undetermined. 

In northwest Colorado, where bear populations are large and conflict with humans is rising year over year, the knowledge that the omnivores’ big appetites, long memories and keen sense of smell can drive them toward human food sources has communities reminding residents and visitors to do their part in preventing conflict. 

What are bears up to this spring? 

In the spring, it’s typical for male bears to emerge from hibernation starting in mid-March. Mothers and cubs will be the last to emerge — especially those born in January and February — when they head out from their dens closer to the end of April. 

Whenever they emerge, the new season kicks off a search for food as they look to replace the calories lost during hibernation.  

“In the spring, they are looking for things like grass, flowers and other new vegetation that’s easier for them to digest as they are getting their stomachs used to digesting food after hibernation,” said Rachael Gonzales, Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s spokesperson for northwest Colorado. 

“Depending on weather conditions over the next few weeks, there is a potential for increased bear activity in neighborhoods and more populated areas like Steamboat Springs, Aspen or Silverthorne as bears search for food,” she added. 

So far, from Jan. 1 to March 31, Gonzales said Parks and Wildlife has received 20 reports of bear activity in its northwest region, which extends west from Grand, Summit and Jackson counties and north from Mesa and Pitkin counties. 

Gonzales said this is typical for this time of year — with Parks and Wildlife receiving 19 reports during the same period last year — and qualified that this only accounts for activity reported to the state wildlife agency.  

“There may be more activity that’s not being reported to us,” she said.  

The majority of this year’s reports so far — 12 — took place in the Aspen area, which consistently ranks among the highest in the state for bear sightings and reports of conflict. Pitkin County had Colorado’s second-highest number of human-bear conflicts last year, behind only La Plata County, which includes Durango. 

Lara Xaiz, who serves as the city of Aspen’s wildlife coordinator, said bears are out, getting into trash and trying to get into cars earlier than normal this year. 

“Last year, the first bear and trash report I got was April 9, and this year it was March 3,” she said. “So far, I think it’s just one or two bears on the east end of town, but they’re definitely active. They’re getting into trash every night or two since March 3.” 

While Aspen has the most reports, the city is not alone in seeing bears emerge, even if reports of encounters remain low elsewhere. 

Mike Lane, the communications manager for the city of Steamboat Springs, reported that the police department has received two bear-related calls as of March 31. 

“We’re starting to see bears emerge from hibernation and become more active around town and neighborhoods,” Lane said. “With minimal snowpack, bears may have emerged from dens earlier but didn’t need to venture into town (until) recently.” 

Mauri Cummins, the lead code enforcement officer for the Vail Police Department, said the agency has received no reports yet, “but expects activity any day now.” 

“We expect a busier season,” Cummins said. “Drought may reduce natural food sources, pushing bears to seek food from humans more aggressively.”

Will drought drive up human-bear conflicts? 

How climate conditions could impact human-bear conflicts this year remains unknown at this point. 

“While the unseasonably warm and dry winter may impact some of the early spring foods bears rely on, we don’t know yet what the summer and fall conditions will look like,” Gonzales said. 

While bears will snack primarily on grasses and new vegetation in the spring, they turn to fruits and berries in the summer and acorns in the fall. While black bears prefer plant-based foods, they will also consume bugs, fish and other animal remains.

“In the past, we’ve seen years where we’ve had a rough start to the year as far as natural food availability goes and an increase in human-bear interactions,” Gonzales said. “However, summer monsoons led to a highly productive acorn crop in the fall and a drop in interactions and conflicts. We have also seen the reverse occur as well.”

Anything that causes failure of their natural food sources can cause bears to look toward human food sources. This includes everything from bird feeders, grills, pet food and the No. 1 source of human-bear conflict in Colorado: Trash. 

This uncertainty — and the looming threats of how drought, late freezes and other climate conditions could impact bears’ natural food sources — is what keeps Xaiz up at night. 

“What keeps me up at night? It’s everything from, is there not enough moisture to even produce the berries that they typically eat? Will drought also affect the acorns?” she said. “I’m really hoping that we have a wet spring without major freezes happening. That would help berries and acorns. Otherwise, we really are looking at a spring, summer and fall full of bears trying to get into trash and trying to get into homes eventually.” 

In Colorado, you don’t have to look far back in history to see what these late freezes and drought conditions could mean for human-bear conflict.

“Two years ago, we had blossoms out in the spring and then a snowstorm in June, and so it knocked the whole berry crop out for them, and then the drought hit and that knocked their whole acorn crop out,” Xaiz said. “That was what we would consider, for our area, a near food failure, and they were pulling over metal dumpsters, bending the bars off and going to great lengths to get trash.”

Why it’s up to humans to prevent conflict with bears, even in the spring

For towns and cities in Colorado’s bear country, regardless of how the climate could impact bear behavior, one thing is for certain: “In years with low and scarce natural food sources, it’s even more important for all of us to do our part to prevent human-bear interactions,” Gonzales said.

With both natural and human food sources, bears are opportunistic eaters. 

“They will move around in search of food, which may lead them into neighborhoods or the downtown area,” Gonzales said. “If they don’t find any food, they will move on to continue their search, hopefully leaving the populated area and (going) back into the wilderness area.”

Most human-bear conflict in Colorado comes down to human behavior and, specifically, how well people are securing their trash. 

“It’s humans who need to change their behavior and secure their attractants so that bears can’t get trash, birdseed, dirty grills and even food wrappers,” Xaiz said. 

This is even more critical because bears are quick studies when it comes to accessing these unnatural sources of food. 

“Once bears learn that actions like tipping over trash cans or opening unlocked doors could result in gaining access to food, they are likely to repeat those behaviors,” Gonzales said.

This knowledge can remain fresh in bears’ minds as they emerge in the spring. 

“If bears come out and don’t get all of their nutritional needs met by grass and they went into the den last fall after feeding on trash, then they’re going to remember the places where they got trash and they’re going to go back to those places,” Xaiz said, adding that in Aspen these hot spots include  “most of our alleys throughout town where they can get a treat here or there.” 

The challenge for places like Aspen is that, while bears have a good memory, humans can often forget.  

“I feel like by fall, our community is really well buttoned up, but in the springtime, I think it catches people off guard because they don’t really think they’re out yet, or they don’t really believe that they’re out yet,” Xaiz said. 

Bears that become habituated to human food sources can create dangerous situations for themselves and humans. Altering human behavior is the only true tool for reducing conflict.

“The question always comes up, why can’t we just feed them? Especially in a bad food year,” Xaiz said.  “There are many reasons not to, but one of them is that their whole body is set up around how much food they get, and if they have a plentiful food source because we’re artificially boosting their food sources, then they go into the den and implant more embryos. Then, the following year, they have even more young to take care of. And we could have another food failure the following year.”

For Parks and Wildlife and communities used to dealing with bears, prevention and education are the focus of all conflict reduction efforts. 

“While it’s still too early to tell what bear encounters will be like over the coming months, if everyone acts now, we can hopefully have an impact on future activity,” Lane said. “As always, early prevention is key. If the community works now to remove and secure attractants — such as trash (private and dumpsters), bird seed, pet food and other unsecured food sources — it can help reduce encounters and prevent bears from becoming conditioned to easy food access in residential and commercial areas. Taking extra steps now is key to success.” 

Last year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife joined BearWise, a national program sponsored by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The program offers resources and materials to educate the public about living with black bears. 

The BearWise “basics” include: never feed or approach bears, secure food, garbage and recycling, remove bird feeders when bears are active, never leave pet food outdoors, clean and store grills and alert neighbors to bear activity. 

While walking along the Blue River near the Breckenridge Recreation Center Monday afternoon, March 30, Joanne Salazar noticed a peculiar sight: nearly a dozen dead trout scattered and floating in the river’s shallow banks. 

“It seems we’ve had a massacre of our sweet little trout here,” Salazar, a longtime Blue River resident, said after initially surveying the scene. 

Shannon Haynes, Breckenridge town manager, confirmed that public works department staff tallied around 20 dead rainbow trout at the site Monday. By Tuesday, she said the town notified Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Upper Blue Sanitation District for further investigation.

On March 24, Colorado Parks and Wildlife released 1,000 rainbow trout into the Blue River near Breckenridge for a biannual stocking — a process in which fish raised in hatcheries are relocated and released into bodies of water to supplement wild populations and support recreational fishing. 

Jon Ewert, a local fisheries biologist with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, traveled to the Blue River site just south of Coyne Valley Road Wednesday, April 1, to inspect the premises. He said that while he’s not overly concerned about the dead fish, it’s not common to see upwards of 20 die during stocking. 

“It’s not concerning to me,” Ewert said, “but it is not within the realm of normal.”

Ewert said that while he wouldn’t usually expect that many trout to die during the stocking process, most likely the fish died from the stress of travelling across the state. The trout released in the Blue River start their lives at Pueblo State Fish Hatchery over 130 miles away. 

“There was nothing unusual or strange or different about that batch of fish, so at this point my best guess is most likely they died from the stress of being transported,” Ewert said. “Being transported from the hatchery to then being stocked, there’s multiple steps in that process, and it can be a stressful process.” 

Ewert said stocking at the Blue River south of Coyne Valley Road in Breckenridge takes place twice a year.

When surveying the stretch of river near the rec center Wednesday afternoon, Ewert said he was encouraged to see the number of living rainbow trout exceeded the dead ones.

“I did observe many more living fish than dead ones, so that’s a good sign,” Ewert said. “They were actively feeding, swimming around each other, spooking in the way those fish should.”

Ewert also observed multiple native brown trout active in the water, which he said confirmed the deaths are limited to the rainbow trout population stocked by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. He said besides the stress of transport, often fish released during stocking initially have an increased appetite which can lead to more aggressive behavior. 

“They’re aggressive because they’re hungrier, so death rates can be higher after stocking,” Ewert said.

While he can’t definitively determine the cause of the 20 dead trout, Ewert also said the situation should serve as a reminder for anglers to practice safe fish handling. 

“I have seen a few times people not being careful handling their fish, and if you’re handling roughly you can hammer a bunch of fish,” Ewert said. “I’m not saying that was the cause here, but it’s always another possibility.”

Low water levels, environmental stress typical in Blue River stretch through Breckenridge

While sight of the dead trout drew concern from passersby, Ewert said the conditions in the stretch of the Blue River near Coyne Valley Road are already challenging for fish, particularly in spring and summer months. 

Ewert noted that river levels through Breckenridge routinely run low this time of year, even outside of drought conditions. In drier years, those conditions can intensify.

“During drought years like this, the Blue River goes bone-dry in downtown Breckenridge,” Ewert said, adding that he’s aware of those conditions when planning where and when to stock bodies of water around the state each year. 

Even in more typical years, Ewert said the section of the river through downtown Breckenridge faces multiple environmental pressures that make it difficult to sustain a strong wild fish population. 

“We have documented that that section of the Blue River has a really poor natural history,” Ewert said. “It does not contain a self-sustaining fishery.”

Breckenridge town officials said local infrastructure did not play a factor in the fish deaths reported this week. 

“The town’s public works department, including our water utility, has not engaged in any action that impacted the health of the river,” Haynes wrote in an email Tuesday. 

Ewert said that with existing environmental constraints, the area relies on stocking to maintain fish populations for the benefit of both anglers and the river ecosystem. He described the stretch through Breckenridge as a “double-edged sword” because its easy public access and high visibility make it popular among local anglers while also exposing it to additional environmental stressors.

“Tourists and beginner anglers like to fish there, so it’s a good natural resource,” Ewert said, “but it’s under multiple layers of environmental stress.”

He noted the rainbow trout released during stocking typically don’t live longer than a season in a single area, hence why Colorado Parks and Wildlife stocks twice a year — typically before and after spring runoff. 

Conditions differ up- and downstream. North of Coyne Valley Road, Ewert said, fish populations are completely self-sustaining, while other sections of the Blue River (including a portion near Silverthorne) meet the state’s Gold Medal standards for trout fisheries. 

Still, in Breckenridge, seasonal low flows combined with long-term warming and ongoing drought trends across Colorado continue to strain river ecosystems. 

Ewert said he’s hesitant to tie this week’s reported fish deaths near the Breckenridge Rec Center to any single environmental factor. He directed residents who notice multiple dead fish or anything else unusual related to local fisheries in the future to contact Colorado Parks and Wildlife at 970-725-6200.

A bill that would see Colorado drivers help fund wildlife crossing infrastructure has passed through its initial committee hearings. It passed with minor changes to help county clerks through the burdens of implementation and encourage in-state contractors to be tapped for construction. 

Senate Bill 141 would add an optional $5 fee to Coloradans’ annual vehicle registration. The money would go into a Collision Reduction Fund, overseen by the Colorado Department of Transportation and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, to fund wildlife crossing infrastructure such as overpasses, underpasses, and wildlife fencing in high-risk areas.  

Summit County has multiple wildlife crossings that state officials have said are helpful in reducing crashes on local highways and interstates.

The bill’s fiscal note estimates it could raise around $1.96 million in its first six months and $3.9 million in the subsequent fiscal years. 

It was introduced by a bipartisan coalition of Western Slope lawmakers, including Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, Senate Minority Leader Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, and Rep. Rick Taggart, R-Grand Junction.

In introducing the bill to the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee on March 25, Roberts called it a simple idea that will “have a real and big impact on people’s lives.” 

“Here in Colorado, we’ve proven that when you build wildlife crossings in the right places, and pair them with game fencing, they work — not just a little bit, but dramatically,” Roberts said. “So, the question isn’t whether this works, it’s how do we do more of it in our state? And that’s what this bill proposes to do.”

Colorado has become a proving ground for wildlife crossing infrastructure, especially following the 2016 construction of two wildlife overpasses, five wildlife underpasses, 29 wildlife guards, 61 escape ramps and wildlife fencing on a 10.5-mile stretch of Colorado Highway 9 outside of Kremmling. The project saw a 90% reduction in wildlife-vehicle collisions in its first five years. 

Today, Colorado has over 100 structures, including the Greenland Wildlife Overpass on Interstate 25 south of Denver, which is now the largest of its kind in the world, and the Genesee Underpass built on the Interstate 70 mountain corridor. 

Skyler McKinley, a public information officer for AAA Colorado, testified in both of the bill’s transportation and finance committee hearings, sharing his personal and professional experiences with the infrastructure.   

“I’m also someone who drives State Highways 9, 134 and 131 almost every week to reach my business in the Yampa Valley,” McKinley said. “The difference between those drives is why this bill matters. On Highway 9, which we’ve talked about, I rarely see wildlife on the road. That’s not because the elk aren’t there. It’s because the crossings are there … On 134 and 131, it is a different experience entirely — I have a close call nearly every drive.” 

McKinley reported that since 2019, collisions between wildlife and vehicles have killed 48 Coloradans and injured over 5,000. At the same time, he reported that the cost of vehicle repairs has risen sharply from an average repair cost of $5,000 for a wildlife collision to more than $10,000. 

“AAA members who walk away from those crashes still face repair costs that run into the tens of thousands — a number that climbs every year as vehicles get more sensor-laden and expensive to fix,” he said. “Colorado drivers feel that in their premiums.”

Bill supporters applauded the bill as a creative funding solution for a significant problem in Colorado, amid repeated comments from individuals who have been involved in wildlife-vehicle collisions, responded as emergency medical professionals or have lost family members to the accidents. 

Mary Rodriguez lost her father in a 2024 accident on U.S. Highway 85 south of Denver following a nighttime crash with a 700-pound elk. She has turned her grief into advocacy for these types of preventative infrastructure. 

“Had there been wildlife mitigation systems in place, my dad may still be here today,” she said. “I am here today in support of Senate Bill 141, as I feel it is imperative that our state has the proper funding to create safe passage for wildlife and humans alike. It gives people the opportunity to make a contribution to such an important cause that will absolutely save lives.”

Despite being a proven solution, finding adequate funding for these projects — which can cost anywhere from up to $64,000 per mile for 8-foot tall wildlife fencing and up to $15 million for a single wildlife overpass — has remained the biggest challenge.

“Out here in the West Slope, where we live, this bill isn’t really theoretical. It’s something we deal with every day,” said Perry Will, a Garfield County commissioner. “This bill is government getting it right, in my opinion. It’s a rare project that actually solves problems.” 

Roaring Fork Safe Passages is among the groups seeking to build crossing infrastructure in high-collision stretches of highway, including through a six-mile segment of Highway 82 where wildlife collisions accounted for 55% of all crashes in 10 years. Greg Poschman, a Pitkin County commissioner, spoke to the value this dedicated funding stream could provide to projects. 

“We recognize that the cost of these crossings is a good value when compared to the accumulating cost of wildlife collisions in lives and dollars,” he said. “When our leaders commit to wildlife crossings, our communities have shown willingness to step up …  In so many circumstances, this public-private support is simply waiting for a commitment and financial participation of our elected officials, including my own board. Legislation such as this will help provide funding certainty needed for long-term planning and construction of crossings.” 

Easing administrative burdens, keeping construction local 

In the committee hearings, lawmakers made a few changes to the bill text to address concerns brought forth by county clerks as well as a concern raised by a Front Range lawmaker around construction bids for projects funded by the new revenue source. 

Molly Fitzpatrick, the Boulder County clerk and recorder, said the bill would increase clerks’ workload and expenses without providing the educational materials needed to explain the new opt-out fee. 

“This is the second time in the last few years, alongside the Keep Colorado Wild Pass, that counties have been asked to absorb additional responsibilities without additional resources to implement those responsibilities,” she said. “It’s just not sustainable, and it puts a strain on our ability to deliver core services.”

Amendments passed aimed to address these concerns by clarifying the need for public education campaigns conducted with consultation from county clerks, ensuring funding is allocated for these resources and stating that educational materials will be sent to clerks before the fee’s rollout. The bill’s initial fiscal note budgets $482,500 toward outreach and education in the program’s first year. 

Another amendment was introduced to address concerns raised by Sen. Kyle Mullica, D- Northglenn. As adopted, it would establish a preference for local bidders on the projects funded by the new wildlife crossing fee. 

“Obviously, some of these projects potentially will be in the more rural areas, and I think that there’s a strong benefit to working with contractors in that area when possible,” Mullica said. 

Following these changes, the bill will head to the Senate’s appropriations committee before facing a full floor vote.