Eliminating Walk In Access Stamp

The article is very vague, I'm not sure how to interpret it.

From reading I'm assuming "no more walk in fees"=no money for farmers therefore no more walk-in land program.

So are we reduced to the earlier days of chasing ringnecks in SWA's? I remember those days (wasn't that long ago) and the hunting was awful. We hunted an entire season for 1 bird one year.

Looks like I'm going to even drive further and always head into KS:(. That gets old, and expensive fast. I forsee about two multi-day trips a year:mad:.
 
I do want to make one thing clear...In my previous posts I was not outright accusing the CDOW of anything, just hoping that a part of the equation in dropping "walk-in" fees altogether is not that they already smell the coffee & are far more aware of the looming CRP crisis than the rest of us.

I do believe that a huge part of their motive is also no doubt doing anything they possibly can to encourage youth participation & introduction to hunting, which I am 100% for! :thumbsup: As several others have already alluded to in this thread, dropping all fees for youth participants is an excellent way to make it pocket-friendly on working-class parents and mentors to introduce a kid to hunting. However, I think they should possibly considerably upping the annual "walk-in" fee on the rest of us adult hunters (maybe even to as much as $50) as long as they can be held accountable to a significant increase in the amount of quality habitat to hunt with the funds! That would be absolute peanuts in the grand scheme of things in exchange for a significant increase of quality habitat to hunt, particularly when it comes to pheasants. Don't kid yourself, NOTHING will ever come to the masses for free!!!

JUST AN IDEA/FOOD FOR SERIOUS "FORETHOUGHT":
Perhaps the forming of some sort of CO statewide pheasant hunters coalition (and/or fostered by the CO chapter of Pheasants Forever)--whose members all would be willing to pay at least $100-$200 per year or maybe even $300-$500 for an annual membership--might be able to sign contracts/persuade a considerable number of farmers to partner with us keep some of that valuable CRP cover from all being converted over to cropland once the federal contracts have expired??? This could be a real win/win situation for both the landowners & those of us pheasant hunters willing to put some money where the mouth is for serious quality wildlife habitat!!! In the event the CO "walk-in" program were to go totally defunct, the group could even come up with guaranteed access to all properties for dues paying members only & issue it's own statewide atlas/guide??? This would also help hold farmers accountable for promised level of habitat in exchange for the dough!!! :cool: I for one would have no problem pitching a few hundred bucks into the tiller for much better access to real pheasant habitat...true quality pheasant hunting can be a very frustrating experience between limited public access & gaining private access permission!

Regardless, somebody better start considering something now before we find ourselves looking at a massive CRP habitat loss from the hindside, with horrific consequences for pheasant hunting in particular!!!
 
Hen hen

I could be wrong but I bet that kind of money you are trying to get together wouldn't even buy you 100 acres of CRP.

I know you are just trying to throw ideas out there but imo it's going to eventually get to the point where you either know somebody, have to hunt crap land, or you going to have to pay big bucks to hunt good private land...........
 
In addition to the pheasant opportunities, the DOW has been expanding to include goose hunting fields in some areas as well. I currently pay $700 per year membership to a hunting club that has properties that are only marginally better than some of the walk in access pheasant and goose fields. That is a pretty low price for private leased access. Point is, $20 is a ridiculously low price for one of the more successful programs I can think of.

I too will write the DOW. I work in education, so I understand the budget issues groups face. If they get pressured by people who are upset and WANT to give them money... well, I bet they listen. I would.:thumbsup:

Finally, it is really cool to be a part of a sport where so many of you are upset by the idea of not paying money. You value the opportunity to hunt and are more than willing to do your part. It is something to be proud of. (In my classes, I have parents complain that they have to spend $12 for a calculator for their child. They demand that the school pays for it. I see that attitude, so often, it is refreshing to see personal responsibility!) :cheers:
 
Call the Yuma pheasants forever chapter there is something happening but dont remember the details. Pheasants forever has some sort of plan. 970-597-1445
 
I put my two-cents in today with the main office of the CDOW on the "walk-in" issue initially addressed by chadsbritt in this thread...Told them that I hated to see any talk whatsoever of ending hunter-paid $$ for the program, that I thought it was a very bad move that would spell certain death for an excellent program, & that I for one as a hunter would be willing to pay double the current walk-in fee to keep a good thing alive and add to it (and also that as far as I know, I am not anywhere near the only one that feels this way)!

They expressed deep appreciation for the comment & said that it would be duly noted! They also said that they had heard the same rumors floating around outside, but nothing official or in-house as of yet...Time to light up that switchboard boys!!! ;)
 
Okay, so I have a letter ready to go to the DOW. I am going to contact them tomorrow and see who it should be addressed to. I also sent a not to the northern CO pheasants forever chapter voicing my concern. I'm interested to see if they know about the proposal and their thoughts on it. I'll keep everyone posted.

P.S. I included this thread as an attachment to the DOW. Hopefully it will help them see that this really is a viable concern for many.
 
So I just got off the phone with the DOW. The guy I talked to was very helpful, but hadn't heard they were eliminating the fee. He asked around and was told they are indeed eliminating it, but they were planning on enrolling more land in the future. And by the way, he too thinks eliminating the fee is a bad idea.

My reason for calling the DOW was to get an address for sending a letter voicing my concern with their plan. The address he gave me follows. I encourage all of you to send letters too.

Colorado Division of Wildlife
Wildlife Commission
6060 Broadway
Denver, CO 80216
 
Okay, let's see how many times in a row I can post to this thread. I just received an email back from Pheasants Forever regarding this change. This is what they had to say....


Chad thanks for the email. When I heard about this I was also concerned but this is a good thing. They are NOT taking the Walk in Access away, they are NOT taking money away from Farmers in the Farm Bill, this is brand new and it is called Open Field Access, this hopefully will increase payments to farmers and add more land to the CDOW Walk in Program.

Nationwide we are losing hunters every year, the director at CDOW wants to keep our costs down and have 1 payment for small game hunting along with public access.

Donâ??t worry I am on top of this and Colorado PF is good with the change.


I guess I am more luke warm about the idea, but still think the extra money DOW would receive could go a long ways.
 
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