New CO Bill Could Cause Fishing & Hunting License to Jump 50%

A new Colorado bill is up in the air as lawmakers are deciding its fate. It would allow Colorado’s Parks and Wildlife Commission to shoot the price of hunting and fishing license through the roof. The 50% up-charge is to allegedly help support the division’s services and waterway infrastructure.

Colorado House Bill 1321 — sponsored by Reps. Jeni Arndt, D-Fort Collins, and James Wilson, R-Salida — could help Colorado Parks and Wildlife raise money to avoid reducing access to hunting and fishing areas, closing fish hatcheries, slashing license allotments and reducing conservation work.

The proposed law caps the costs of the licenses but allows for future annual increases beyond those limits based on the regional consumer price index. Those annual inflation adjustments can be made without legislative approval, delivering more pricing control to the wildlife commission, which plans to weigh public input on the price increases.

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“This really allows the commission to expand these discussions on the management of our natural resources into the public,” Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Lauren Truitt said. “This is something we feel is time to put in front of Coloradans and see how we can answer the funding needs as well as the growing population and the number of people coming to Colorado for our resources.”

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