CPW implementing new harvest regulations for beavers in 2026-27 season, including shorter season

STATEWIDE, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) says it is implementing new harvest regulations for beavers to help increase the amount of information wildlife managers can collect on beaver harvest.

CPW says the new regulations for the 2026-27 season will also help implement the agency's new Beaver Conservation and Management Strategy (BCMS). The full report can be found on CPW's website.

According to CPW, starting in October, avocational beaver hunters, or those harvesting a beaver using a small game license with a furbearer harvest permit or furbearer license, will be required to present their carcasses or pelts to CPW for physical inspection. CPW says this new requirement will help wildlife managers get more information on when beavers are being harvested.

“Having hunters personally present harvested beaver allows us to identify and verify the location of each harvest" CPW Beaver Conservation Manager Kris Inman said in a press release. "Over time, those finer-scale data can give a clearer picture of population and harvest distribution to help guide where we focus conservation, restoration, and translocation efforts statewide.”

CPW says its new BCMS will have several focuses, including population and habitat status monitoring, beaver restoration opportunities and beaver translocation policy and protocols. According to CPW, beavers have significant benefits for Colorado waterways, including that their dams can help slow and retain water.

CPW says it also adjusted the statewide avocational beaver season. It will now run from October 1 through March 31, one month shorter than the previous season, which ended on April 30. There is also a daily bag limit of two for all 17 furbearer species, including beavers, according to officials. They say the possession limit is still unlimited and beavers are still classified as a hunted furbearer species.

More information on beavers and CPW's conservation efforts is available on their website.

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