Fishing Forum

[font "Arial"]WILDLIFE COMMISSIONERS HOST PUBLIC MEETING IN GRANBY[/font]

[font "Arial"]Colorado Wildlife Commissioners Roy McAnally of Craig and Tom Burke of Grand Junction are holding a public meeting in Granby to get input on wildlife issues. The meeting will be held at the Granby Library (55 Zero Street) on Wednesday, Feb. 20 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The meeting is open to anyone who wants to attend.

While Wildlife Commissioners are typically available any time to discuss issues, from time to time they hold more formal meetings around the regions they represent. These meetings give the Commissioners the opportunity to visit with constituents about a wide range of wildlife topics. The meetings do not have set agendas, but typically include time for a brief opening statement from the Commissioners and then questions or comments from the public. Division of Wildlife staff members also attend the meetings to help answer questions or provide additional information.

The Colorado Wildlife Commission is an eleven-member board appointed by the governor. The Commission sets Colorado Division of Wildlife regulations and policies for hunting, fishing, watchable wildlife, and non-game, threatened and endangered species. Commissioners also oversee DOW land purchases and property regulations.

The Colorado Division of Wildlife is the state agency responsible for managing wildlife and its habitat, as well as providing wildlife related recreation. The Division is funded through hunting and fishing license fees, federal grants and Colorado Lottery proceeds through Great Outdoors Colorado.

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[font "Arial"]For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: [url "http://wildlife.state.co.us/"][#003399]http://wildlife.state.co.us[/#003399][/url][/font].

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This meeting was a wonderful opportunity to meet with two of the commissioners and several DOW personnel to discuss fish and wildlife issues and concerns. The citizen turnout was disappointing, though. There were only 6 of us. There were 2 commissioners, 6 DOW employees, and 1 USFS employee.

I recommend that everyone attend some of these. You'll get a new appreciation for the complexities of the issues the DOW deals with on all the big fish and wildlife management questions.
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