Miles of sagebrush-covered ground and a soaring cloud puff-dotted sky dwarfed Gov. Jared Polis and other officials as they addressed a crowd gathered before them on July 29 on a sweeping piece of land about 10 miles northeast of Fairplay.
Surrounding them but invisible save for a few droppings was an elk migration corridor. On a plain below a gently sloping hill was Tarryall Creek, a trout fishery and riparian zone favored by moose, elk, deer and beavers, plus hawks, songbirds and the occasional bald eagle. And visible from nearly anywhere they stood were big, beautiful mountains.
The group was there to celebrate the , 1,860 acres of the Collard Ranch 60 miles west of Denver now designated as a protected state wildlife area. In December, CPW joined forces with Great Outdoors Colorado to purchase the land, spending $2 million and $6.5 million, respectively. Or rather, proceeds from the Colorado Lottery paid the $6.5 million and .
GOCO and CPW bought the land from the who 鈥渏umped at the opportunity鈥� to buy it after Allen Law, their Interior West project manager, fell 鈥渋n love at first sight鈥� with it in 2022. 鈥淲estern Rivers鈥� motto is 鈥楽ometimes to save a river you have to buy it鈥� and that鈥檚 exactly what we did at the Collard Ranch,鈥� he said.
Now, Polis was hailing it as the next 鈥減remier hunting and fishing opportunity for all Coloradans,鈥� added to the 558,000 acres the state says it has acquired for state parks, state wildlife areas and state habitat areas since Polis took office in 2019.
But as history has shown, state wildlife areas aren鈥檛 devoid of problems.
Paying for limited play on public lands聽聽
Like the other 350 or so state wildlife areas across the state, Collard Ranch was purchased partially with proceeds from CPW鈥檚 .
Since 2006, Habitat Stamp funds have conserved millions of acres of key Colorado habitat. Some of those acres are designated state habitat areas and are off-limits to humans. But on hunters and anglers are allowed to blast and cast, and each area has different 鈥渁llowed activities鈥� for nonconsumptive users such as hikers and birdwatchers.
That has suited hunters and anglers who regularly access the state wildlife areas. But a coalition of animal advocacy groups over regulations they said favored hunters and anglers over other users.
Gov. Jared Polis addresses stakeholders on the Cline Ranch State Wildlife Area July 29, 2024. The group had hoped to see evidence of a healthy beaver population along Tarryall Creek but couldn鈥檛 because a moose was in the willows. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has acquired more than half a million acres for state parks, state wildlife areas and state habitat areas since Polis took office in 2019., according to the state. (Tracy Ross for The Colorado Sun) Their complaint: Since 2021, all visitors to state wildlife areas 鈥� not just hunters and anglers 鈥� have had to pay to play, and nonconsumptive users deserve equal rights. The plaintiffs had a point: Bikes are prohibited, but wheeled carts hunters use to pack their dead game out aren鈥檛. Hunting dogs only, if you don鈥檛 mind. And horseback riding is off-limits unless the horse is helping you hunt.
The case is ongoing and Collard Ranch reflects the plaintiffs鈥� complaint. Although it has been billed as the next big thing for hunters, anglers and recreators, only hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing are allowed per state wildlife area regulations.
CPW is planning a soft opening for hunters only in October while others will have to wait until next spring for access to Collard Ranch, Kara Van Hoose, agency spokesperson, said.
The number of visitors allowed at a time will also be limited by the number of cars that can fit in a parking lot CPW plans to build at the entrance, Mark Lamb, area wildlife manager for the region Collard Ranch sits in, said. CPW offers a limited number of hunting licenses in all of its game management units regardless of whether parts of them are designated state wildlife areas or not, so this new designation won鈥檛 increase overall hunter numbers.
But Dave Gottenborg, and who sits on CPW鈥檚 , says he has some concerns about the big herds of elk that migrate through the Tarryall Valley bottom throughout the winter looking for forage and refuge.
Do state wildlife areas concentrate hunters?聽聽
Gottenborg is one of several ranch owners in Colorado who participate in CPW鈥檚 , which encourages private landowners 鈥渢o provide habitat that increases wildlife populations for the benefit of all hunters,鈥� 鈥渄iscourage the harboring of game animals on private lands during public hunting seasons鈥� and 鈥渞elieve hunting pressure on public lands by increasing game hunting on private lands.鈥�
Yet, he thinks public access on the formerly private Collard Ranch could put extra pressure on the elk.
Gottenborg is selective about which hunters he allows on his property through the landowner preference program, often giving his allocated number of vouchers to 鈥渘eighbors, friends, and/or cowboys/cowgirls who come and help with branding, gathering, fence work, manual labor, etc,鈥� he said in an email. He likes to do what he can for those who 鈥渕ay have some trouble putting food on their table at today鈥檚 grocery prices,鈥� saying, 鈥渢his is our way of helping them in return for their help on the ranch.鈥�
He has also installed wildlife-friendly fencing on his land to assist elk in their winter journey that starts in Summit County and heads over Boreas Pass and Georgia Pass into the northern part of South Park near the Cline Ranch State Wildlife Area.
From there, they migrate south across U.S. 285 into such areas as the Collard Ranch and points south, he said. 鈥淓lk also come over Kenosha Pass and through the Lost Creek Wilderness into the Tarryall Valley near my place. They seem to favor the bottom land along Tarryall Creek,鈥� along with 鈥溾�榳orking lands鈥� but also across recreational properties and now increasingly CPW-owned land as well,鈥� he wrote in an email.
Overall hunter numbers, which CPW manages, aren鈥檛 Gottenborg鈥檚 concern, he says. It鈥檚 that the state wildlife area designation, with its requisite signage and parking lot, could concentrate more hunters on the newly accessible public land and negatively impact the elk.
Van Hoose said that鈥檚 not likely to happen because 鈥渢his land is 1,860 acres, which is plenty of land for hunters to spread out.鈥�
But Gottenborg worries some hunters will try to 鈥減ush the elk鈥� he has seen 鈥渂edded down on a big piece of private property鈥� and resting from private property onto public property 鈥� 鈥渆ntirely legal,鈥� he says, 鈥� toward other members of their hunting party within the boundaries. And he says 鈥渆lk are just running out of places to rest. This is simply my opinion 鈥� I鈥檓 not stating it as fact. It鈥檚 just what I observe here in this valley during the months in which hunting is permitted.鈥�
CPW will discourage that kind of behavior the same way it does on the Cline Ranch State Wildlife Area, Lamb said, by limiting access to the entrance at the parking lot 鈥渂ecause we want to prevent people shooting from the highway.鈥�
鈥淲hat people try to outsmart on this property is predominantly elk,鈥� he added. 鈥淪o if they saw some elk up on [a] hill, they might try to drop somebody off to try and push them. We didn鈥檛 want to have those kinds of issues, so we figured, let鈥檚 try only letting people in at the parking lot. We鈥檝e had people get angry about it, but it鈥檚 worked really well.鈥�
Van Hoose in an email said CPW鈥檚 regional wildlife officers will enforce the rules Lamb mentioned as well as others within the boundaries.
鈥淎 major task of the District Wildlife Managers (or Wildlife Officers) is to contact hunters and anglers in the field to ensure they have the proper licenses and tags while recreating. Officers do these daily checks on many types of lands, including SWAs,鈥� she wrote.
And to keep enforcement close, CPW plans to house some of the officers in a building that came with the property, Lamb said.
Letting the new designation play out
Time will tell if turning the Collard Ranch into a state wildlife area will impact the elk that overwinter there one way or another.
But Gottenborg is adopting a 鈥渨e shall see鈥� stance, saying he thinks CPW has done a great job managing the elk herds he鈥檚 familiar with in the past.
鈥淚 believe they will continue to do so,鈥� he wrote in an email. 鈥淚 have nothing but respect and admiration for the job they do. Same goes for the USFS locally. We all work together in this valley, both private landowners and CPW 鈥� to protect private lands from overgrazing 鈥� and maintain healthy wildlife populations 鈥� and their respective migration corridors. We consider it a privilege to work with them 鈥� all for the good of Colorado hunters, anglers, and yes, wildlife.鈥�
Tracy Ross is a reporter for The Colorado Sun. Her work frequently appears on-air at KUNC 91.5 FM and online at KUNC.org. Contact Tracy at tracy@coloradosun.com.