\u201cThe voters were not there to confirm me and it was not going to be to anyone\u2019s benefit for me to stay in there,\u201d he said Friday morning from his home in Durango.<\/p>\n
Skiba and Jessica Beaulieu were nominated to the CPW commission by Polis in July and have served on the commission since, with Skiba representing hunters and anglers and Beaulieu representing recreation and parks. Last week, a Senate committee declined to support their appointments, with senators critical of their experience and their alignment with animal advocacy.<\/p>\n
Beaulieu is a Denver attorney who manages the University of Denver\u2019s Animal Law Program, which helps attorneys better protect animals. A third appointee, Jack Murphy, was approved by the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Feb. 29. The Colorado Senate on Friday pushed a vote on the two commissioners to March 14.<\/p>\n
A growing chorus of recreation and hunting groups \u2013 along with commissioners in the hunter-reliant counties of Grand and Teller \u2013 expressed opposition to all three of the Polis appointees.<\/p>\n
Skiba said he was disappointed. He told The Colorado Sun he was going to be \u201cpretty guarded\u201d with his comments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need some time with this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Animal advocacy groups supporting a proposed ballot measure to ban mountain lion hunting in Colorado lamented the departure of Skiba. Samantha Miller, the Colorado director of the Animal Wellness Action group, said in a statement that \u201ca tiny minority of trophy hunters\u201d had \u201charassed and demeaned\u201d the three appointees and \u201cwere able to trick the Senate into believing there was more opposition \u2026 than in reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese anti-wildlife extremists will stop at nothing to get their way and have successfully hijacked the commission and the Senate,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI hope Coloradans will see their voices are being silenced by the ongoing outsized influence of the trophy hunting and trapping lobby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skiba said he applied to serve on the commission because he spent 23 years with CPW as a wildlife biologist and \u201cI recognized I had experience that was relevant and I felt I had a lot to offer the state of Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he intended to be an advocate for hunters and anglers in Colorado. He wanted to help improve management of the state\u2019s bighorn sheep herds. He wanted to explore options for growing Colorado\u2019s beaver population. He was keen to study how Colorado could better protect its wild bison as the state collects federal money to support grassland ecosystems.<\/p>\n
Bison are presently considered domestic livestock, and CPW does not have authority over wild bison. The agency is studying a proposal that would shift wild bison designation over to a game animal, which would allow management of some herds as wildlife.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe designation of bison pulls in so many aspects of the commission, with social, economic, agricultural and hunting interests,\u201d Skiba said. \u201cIt\u2019s really sort of a microcosm of all the issues we are facing as a commission right now. I keep saying \u2018we.\u2019 It\u2019s not \u2018we\u2019 anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n