Episodes
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Colorado’s first rifle season will open Oct. 12 this year, and hunters across the state are getting prepared and sighting in at local ranges to get perfectly in tune to take their shot this fall. With that in mind, it’s an excellent time to learn more about Colorado’s Nontoxic Bullet Replacement Hunting Program.
Following the 2023 passing of HB 23-1036, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has worked with several partners to demonstrate the effectiveness of non-lead ammunition for hunters in an effort to reduce toxic ammunition on the landscape for the benefit of people and wildlife.
In this episode of the Colorado Outdoors Podcast, learn all about this program from the people key in its creation and implementation.
Colorado State Representative Barbara McLachlan, who authored the bill in the state assembly, joins the show to discuss what prompted her to introduce the legislation.
Show host John Livingston is also joined by co-host Kristin Cannon, a Deputy Regional Manager for CPW who is overseeing the implementation of the program, and the two interview an incredible panel of guests that detail the impacts of lead ammunition to wild animals and the effectiveness and benefits of copper alternatives.
Included on the panel are Bryan Bedrosian of Sporting Lead-Free, Leland Brown from the Non-Lead Partnership and Aaron Kindle of the National Wildlife Federation.
Give this episode a listen and hear for yourself why making the switch from lead to copper might be part of your hunt plan this year.
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COTREX puts information about all of Colorado’s trails in your hands, thanks to a collaborative effort by land managers at every level.
More than 230 land managers have contributed to COTREX data to detail 45,076 miles of trail across Colorado. And because the information is all sourced directly from land managers, you can trust you are recreating responsibly whenever you start your journey using COTREX.
Best of all, COTREX is completely free and you’ll never have to make in-app purchases to download maps or receive important alerts and safety information.
Join us as we chat with CPW State Trails Program Coordinator Joe O’Brien about his love for trails and tech, what features in the app you should be putting to use and a hint at the possibilities for the future of the constantly expanding app.
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Summer is here, and the high-water season for recreational paddlers has reached Colorado’s iconic rivers. While Colorado manages 43 state parks, the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area is among the most unique in that it spans across a 152-mile corridor that follows the Arkansas River from the high mountains near Leadville to Lake Pueblo.
AHRA isn’t only a whitewater destination, though. It also boasts eight developed campgrounds and 19 dispersed camping areas while also offering gold-medal fishing, incredible wildlife viewing and hiking and climbing opportunities.
Still, it’s the whitewater that many think of first when it comes to AHRA. It’s one of the nation’s most popular rafting and kayaking destinations and is the most commercially rafted river in the United States.
Along with that many boaters and stretches of Class III to Class V rapids comes challenges for CPW staff. AHRA rangers have already responded to multiple rescue calls this year, and there has already been one kayaking fatality in early June.
In this episode, hear from AHRA Manager Tom Waters and River Ranger Supervisor Jeffrey Hammond on what it takes to manage AHRA, the diversity of the rescue and recovery situations they find themselves in and the ever-present danger that comes with whitewater recreation
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In this episode, recorded from the Partners in the Outdoors Conference at Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge, we hear from a few partner organizations in attendance and what the theme “We are Better Together,” means to them.
First, we talked with Partners Conference organizer Shalana Gray about the two-year effort to reimagine and rebuild the Partners Conference. We learned how sessions were developed and looked ahead to continued growth of the event moving forward.
Then, we chat with Topher Downham from the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks about his collaborative work in increasing opportunities for the disabled community to engage in the outdoors through various adaptive programs, including at Colorado State Parks.
We also sat down with Bianka Martinez, an ambassador with Hunters of Color, and learned how her attendance at the 2021 Partners Conference led to new opportunities to engage in the hunting community and what she is doing now to connect others with the outdoors in multiple ways.
We wrap up the show with a powerful spoken word poetry segment from Franklin Cruz, who closed the conference Wednesday afternoon by delivering the poem.
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In this episode, go behind the scenes with CPW staff from the capture team in Oregon and the release team back in Colorado as 10 gray wolves were translocated to the state in December 2023.
While the Colorado gray wolf reintroduction story could take up multiple podcasts, we narrowed our focus in this episode to take listeners behind the scenes and into the minds of our staff and give you their perspective on the capture process in Oregon and from the release sites in Colorado.
The episode starts with audio from Oregon of one of Colorado’s new gray wolves howling in her crate the night before being translocated to Colorado. Then, listen as we are joined by Wildlife Research Scientist Ellen Brandell, Wolf Monitoring and Data Coordinator Brenna Cassidy, Wildlife Veterinarian Pauline Nol and Public Information Officer Rachael Gonzales about their experience on the capture team in Oregon.
Then, we pivot to Eric Odell, the Wolf Conservation Program Manager, and Reid DeWalt, the Assistant Director for Aquatic, Terrestrial and Natural Resources branch of CPW, as they take us through the releases in Colorado.
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On May 1, 2023, Jeff Davis was appointed to the position of Director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife by Governor Jared Polis. He came to CPW from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, where he had served since 2000 in various roles including most recently as Director of Conservation.
Jeff came to CPW with extensive experience working with leadership, legislators, Tribal Nations, the hunting and fishing community and conservation groups.
Join us for a conversation about what led Director Davis to Colorado, what has driven his passion for conservation work and all the key issues facing CPW, from wolf reintroduction and the implementation of the Keep Colorado Wild pass to how we balance recreation and the needs of wildlife.
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Every year, bears attracted to human food sources damage property, vehicles and even homes. Bears don’t know they’re doing anything wrong. They’re just following their super-sensitive noses to the most calories they can find. Bears that find food around homes, campgrounds and communities often lose their natural wariness of people.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is charged with protecting and preserving the state’s wildlife. Every time we must euthanize a bear, it’s not just the bear that loses. We all lose a little piece of the wildness that makes Colorado so special.
In today’s episode, we’re talking with Area Wildlife Managers from around the state about being Bear Aware. We also learn how local communities play a huge role in limiting human-bear conflict and how CPW grant opportunities can help extend the work being done in those communities. Gain a newfound appreciation for these charismatic creatures and learn how you can help keep Colorado’s wildlife wild.
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Starting on Jan. 1, 2023, Colorado residents can get a $29 Keep Colorado Wild Pass during their annual vehicle registration through the Division of Motor Vehicles.
As Coloradans, we treasure our outdoor lifestyle and state’s beauty. This new state park pass gives all Coloradans an easy way to invest in Colorado’s outdoors, wildlife and local communities in a meaningful way. Your contribution shows you care about Colorado and want to keep our landscapes healthy for current and future generations. Money raised will be used to protect wildlife habitats, search and rescue programs, avalanche safety, local outdoor community projects and more.
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NoCo PLACES 2050 is a broader effort by eight agencies collaborating on ways to address the challenges of high visitation and a growing population in northern Colorado’s foothills and mountains. This collaboration is committed to sustainable solutions, equitable actions, and beneficial land management practices for the long-term conservation of public lands in Colorado and the quality of the visitor experience. Learn about NoCo PLACES 2050.
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No matter the season, Highline Lake State Park is a diverse and welcome retreat. Park Manager Alan Martinez joins us on this podcast to discuss the state park thta is an oasis in the desert. Connected to miles of trails and close to communities, the park makes an ideal base camp for exploring the Grand Junction area. Whether passing through on mountain bikes, or as an end destination, the park welcomes campers, anglers, families and groups.
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Rattlesnakes have a lot of misconceptions or folklore surrounding them because they are often perceived as mysterious and are generally misunderstood. Colorado Parks and Wildlife species conservation coordinator Tina Jackson has spent the last 20 years learning about snakes, and she shared her knowledge of rattlesnakes in this Colorado Outdoors podcast.
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Some terms naturally go together like "Colorado Parks and Wildlife" and "world-class fishing."
Few would ever add to that list the term “Superfund sites.”
That's because Colorado Parks and Wildlife's 42 parks are recreation meccas. Its 350 wildlife areas boast some of the finest wildlife and aquatic habitat in the state. And even in the United States.
But they weren’t always so pristine. In fact, CPW's aquatic biologists and research scientists have played a key role in transforming rivers and wetlands dangerously polluted by decades of mining and milling into prime fish habitat by restoring the waterways to their historic unspoiled conditions.
They are erasing the dark legacy of gold mining and restoring gold medal fisheries that are known by anglers worldwide and home to threatened or endangered species.
And here to talk about the work that took place along the Upper Arkansas River is Eric Richer, Aquatic Research Scientist and Paul Foutz, Senior Aquatic Biologist for CPW’s Southeast Region.
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Winter range is what provides those limited resources that wild animals such as deer, elk, pronghorn and sage grouse rely on to survive the harsh winter months. Ultimately it is the most limited habitat, so these animals are moving to winter range as part of their migration process because they are not able to survive in those higher elevations where the snow loads are deep and there is nothing for them to eat. Colorado Parks and Wildlife is placing a big focus on conserving Colorado’s Big Game Winter Range and Migration Corridors. We discuss just that with Area Wildlife Manager Jeromy Huntington in this Colorado Outdoors podcast episode.
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Eleven Mile State Park is an expansive high-altitude grassland region of central Colorado. It is a prime location for ice fishing and anglers and writers consistently tout Eleven Mile’s large reservoir for its outstanding fishing. In this podcast episode we learn about its history, unique species and fishery management outlook for one of the great angling opportunities in the state of Colorado. We'll talk with Bryan Johnson, the hatchery manager for CPW's Mt. Shavano Hatchery along with Tyler Swarr, the aquatic biologist who oversee's management of the fishery. Then we'll close with CPW Senior Aquatic Biologist Jeff Spohn, who provides us with some of the history on Eleven Mile and how it developed over the previous decades.
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Over the last three years, CPW has received over 14,000 reports of sightings and conflicts with bears. In 2022, CPW will be offering financial resources to communities in an effort to reduce conflicts with bears across Colorado. We discuss that, the sources of conflict and the behavior of bears in this episode with Area Wildlife Manager Adrian Archuleta.
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Aquatic biologists Jim White and Dan Brauch join us for a podcast episode discussing kokanee salmon in Colorado. They provide a history of the tasty sportfish in Colorado, its role in the fishing pecking order, how Colorado Parks and Wildlife spawns the fish and the outlook for the fish moving into the future.
Daniel Brauch
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Cutthroat trout with unique genetics, rescued by Colorado Parks and Wildlife aquatic biologists from the Hayden Pass Fire in 2016 - is the story of this Colorado Outdoors podcast episode. CPW is taking extraordinary steps to preserve the Hayden Creek Cuthtroat Trout because they contain genetic markers that match a museum specimen collected from the Arkansas River basin in the late 1800's.
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In a first of its kind partnership in Colorado to create a state park on U.S. Forest Service land, it was recently announced that Sweetwater Lake will become Colorado's 43rd state park. Sweetwater Lake is located in Garfield County. It is a hidden gem, both as a destination and gateway to the Flat Tops Wilderness and has great potential for even more recreational opportunities in Northwest Colorado. CPW, The White River National Forest and Eagle Valley Land Trust will now come together to modernize facilities, and provide updated and sustainable recreational services through this partnership. Joining us for this episode is Jacob Brey, the Deputy Regional Manager for CPW's Northwest Region, to talk about Sweetwater Lake and how the agencies plan to develop Colorado's newest state park.
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