DENVER \u2013 Colorado\u2019s new Parks and Wildlife division is reaching out for public help to craft a long-term plan.<\/p>\n
The agency is working on its \u201cPath Forward,\u201d a five-year plan that is due to the Legislature in December. Gov. John Hickenlooper and the Legislature merged the former divisions of Wildlife and State Parks in 2011.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past we had \u2018wildlife\u2019 stakeholders and \u2018parks\u2019 stakeholders,\u201d said Rick Cables, director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, in a news release. \u201cNow we\u2019re all working together in new ways to manage Colorado\u2019s natural amenities and recreational resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
The agency plans to hold public meetings around the state later this summer, but it has not yet released a schedule.<\/p>\n
The new Parks and Wildlife Commission has already identified three key areas it where wants the agency to focus: recruiting new people to use public lands, whether it\u2019s by hiking or hunting; protecting habitat; and financial sustainability. Both of the former agencies were working along those lines before the merger, said Dave Chadwick, a public participation specialist with the agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe merged agencies really spotlighted these three themes even more,\u201d Chadwick said.<\/p>\n
At the time of the merger in 2011, State Parks was enduring budget cuts and financial troubles, but the Division of Wildlife was relatively flush, thanks to revenue from hunting licenses.<\/p>\n
However, simultaneous to the merger, accountants uncovered mismanagement of wildlife accounts that made the agency\u2019s leaders think they had $32 million more than they actually did.<\/p>\n
The merger is intended to save the state money by combining duplicative office jobs and sharing equipment and vehicles among park rangers and wildlife officers.<\/p>\n
This is Colorado\u2019s second experience with a combined wildlife and parks agency. The Legislature split the agencies apart in 1972.<\/p>\n
Visit wildlife.state.co.us\/About\/Pages\/PathForward.aspx to learn more about the five-year plan.<\/p>\n
The page will be updated in the coming days, Chadwick said.<\/p>\n