CPW seeks public input on pronghorn herd management plans in southeast region

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is seeking public input on how it intends to manage 11 pronghorn herds across the southeast region over the next 10 years.

CPW says they have spent months drafting proposed management plans for the pronghorn herds that extend from Leadville down the Arkansas River valley to Kansas and New Mexico, as well as from the Pikes Peak region east to Kansas and as far north as Interstate 70 and Burlington on the far eastern plains.

The draft plans are now open to public review and comment through Feb. 20.

To view the draft pronghorn herd management plans for CPW’s Southeast Region, visit https://sites.google.com/state.co.us/draft-herd-management-plans/home?authuser=0

According to CPW, the plans reflect their efforts to balance the biological capabilities of the herd and its habitat with the public’s demand for wildlife recreational opportunities.  

“The proposed herd management plans will guide management of the 11 pronghorn herds in the Southeast Region for a 10-year period through 2033,” said Julie Stiver, CPW’s senior wildlife biologist for the Southeast Region. “These 11 pronghorn herds contain an estimated 33,000 pronghorn, representing nearly 42 percent of the statewide total population estimate of 78,000 pronghorn.​”

CPW is proposing new management objectives for the following herds: Hugo, Thatcher, Yoder, Last Chance, Wet Mountain and Fort Carson. The management objectives for these herds are more than six years old.

In addition, CPW is proposing an adjustment to the recently approved management objectives for Two Buttes and extensions to the recently approved objectives for herds Haswell, Cheyenne, Tobe, and Collegiate. 

CPW says the management plans are critical because they are the basis for CPW's decisions on annual pronghorn license sales. CPW relies on hunter harvest to manage pronghorn populations to meet population and sex ratio objectives. 

Please submit public comments to Stiver at julie.stiver@state.co.us.

Comments also will be accepted by mail addressed to:

Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Attn. Julie Stiver
4255 Sinton Road
Colorado Springs, CO 80907

To view the draft pronghorn herd management plans for CPW’s Southeast Region, visit https://sites.google.com/state.co.us/draft-herd-management-plans/home?authuser=0