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Project Coyote Applauds Governor Polis’s Opposition to Amendment 83, Colorado’s Misleading “Right to Hunt and Fish” Ballot Measure
DENVER, Colo., Sept., 25, 2026 – Project Coyote today welcomed Governor Jared Polis’s statement opposing Amendment 83, the constitutional amendment on Colorado’s November ballot that proponents call a “right to hunt and fish” measure but that conservation advocates warn would strip Coloradans of their voice in how the state’s wildlife is protected.
“Here’s the problem with Amendment 83: there are many other things people (including me) like to do outdoors, and this puts hunting above them all as the only one in our constitution. Coloradans hike, rock climb, mountain bike, camp, go river rafting and kayaking, ski, do trail running, go 4x4ing, and much more. While we do our best to support all of these wonderful ways to enjoy our great outdoors, elevating hunting above all the others means that when they come into conflict, hunting would always win out in the courts,” said Governor Polis in a statement on Facebook. “So if there was a conflict between hunting and mountain biking, the courts would have to close off the area to mountain biking. Right now hunting has very strong legal protection in Colorado and that isn’t going anywhere. Putting this proposed language in the constitution is reckless and dangerous.”
“Governor Polis is standing up for the right of Colorado voters to have a say in how we protect the wildlife and natural environments that define this state,” said Mark Surls, Colorado & Northern Rockies Coordinator “Amendment 83 isn’t actually about protecting hunting and fishing, which are already legal and firmly established in Colorado. It’s a blatant attempt to make our shared constitution lock out science, lock out public input, and lock in a single special interest’s preferences for generations to come.”
Amendment 83, backed by the Wisconsin-based International Order of T. Roosevelt and Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management, would open the door to reversals of wildlife protections that the people of Colorado already voted on, including prohibitions on brutal trapping practices, bear baiting and wildlife killing contests. It requires 55% voter approval and, if passed, could only be undone by another statewide vote.
“I’m extremely grateful to Governor Polis for speaking out against Amendment 83. Coyotes, bears, bobcats, and foxes are thinking, feeling beings, and Coloradans voted to ban leghold traps and bear baiting because those practices cause immense suffering. Amendment 83 would needlessly drag those protections back into court,” said Marc Bekoff, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder and a member of Project Coyote’s Science Advisory Board. “Compassionate conservation promotes two simple principles, ‘first, do no harm’ and ‘the life of every individual matters,’ and this amendment fails on both counts.”
Project Coyote argues the measure could strip Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) of its ability to make timely, science-led decisions about the state’s wildlife. Rather than CPW acting on the best available biological science and public input as conditions on the ground change, the agency would instead have to first prove in court that any restriction is “necessary” before it could act.
That reversal hands veto power over wildlife policy to whichever side is willing to litigate. It would also put politics and the interests of a single group ahead of the work of Colorado’s independent, science-based wildlife agency when it comes to the final say on how to protect the species Coloradans care about.
“Amendment 83 could also bring back “traditional methods” of hunting and harvesting wildlife in the Constitution, which includes inhumane and unsportsmanlike practices that Colorado has long banned like leghold traps, wildlife killing contests, and bear baiting,” the governor’s statement said.
“This is bigger than any one species or any one season,” Surls said. “Wildlife is part of what makes Colorado, Colorado, and every voter deserves a say in how they’re protected. We’re grateful Governor Polis is standing with Coloradans on this.”
Project Coyote encourages Coloradans to learn more about Amendment 83 and get involved in the campaign to defeat it ahead of the November 3 election.
Project Coyote is a fiscally sponsored project of Earth Island Institute, a 501c3 nonprofit. Project Coyote’s mission is to promote compassionate conservation and coexistence between people and wildlife—particularly North America’s wild carnivores—through education, science, advocacy, and coalition building. Led by scientists, educators, and wildlife advocates, Project Coyote works to change policies and perceptions to protect wild carnivores and foster ethical, ecologically sound stewardship.
Learn more at www.ProjectCoyote.org.
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