Colorado Stop the Wolf Coalition campaign gains new supporters
Those opposed to the push to reintroduce wolves to Colorado just got more supporters. The Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU), a 20,000-member organization, recently joined the Colorado Stop the Wolf Coalition campaign, which is an organized effort against putting Initiative 107 on the 2020 ballot, Colorado Politics reports.
“Colorado embraces the economic and cultural value of livestock ranching, and the forced introduction of wolves will create too many headaches with no real way to resolve things should they get out of hand," said RMFU president Dr. Dale McCall in a statement.
"What may appear to be a good idea seems burdened with unanswered questions and unintended consequences. We can’t afford to get this wrong.”
As goHUNT has previously reported, a ballot proposal was submitted to Colorado’s state title board in April by the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund in an effort to allow voters to decide whether wolves should return to the state. Their goal is to have the initiative approved for the state ballot for 2020. Historically, wolf restoration efforts follow federal protocol with state wildlife managers going through the required steps outlined by the Endangered Species Act. Using voters to determine wildlife management is a new strategy. The proposed measure recently received support from Tim Ferriss, an entrepreneur, social media influencer and New York Times best-selling author, who offered a $100,000 matching challenge to listeners of his podcast for the Colorado wolf restoration initiative.
In order to qualify for the November 2020 ballot, supporters of the initiative must turn in the signatures of 124,632 registered Colorado voters by Dec. 13, according to Colorado Politics. To read the full text of the proposed ballot measure, click HERE.
“We are thankful to have Rocky Mountain Farmers Union join our growing coalition as we mobilize more and more Coloradans who understand the real danger and inevitable disaster that forced the introduction of wolves will bring to our state,” said Denny Behrens, co-chair of the Colorado Stop the Wolf Coalition.
