Gov. Polis’s cronies at Parks and Wildlife have apologized for being so secretive and deceitful with ranchers and locals about releasing dangerous wolves into their backyard and promises to be more cooperative and transparent in the future.
We suspect it’s a trap.
And so it is, confirms Rachel Gabel, assistant editor of The Fence Post Magazine, and a member of one of the state’s 12,000 cattle-raising families.
Writing in Colorado Politics, Gabel reveals we’re just all being lulled into complacency long enough for Polis to screw us yet again when it comes to his new appointments to lead the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission (CPW).
Apologies and assurances mean nothing so long as no one is willing to stand against Gov. Jared Polis’s extremist appointees and demand special interests not be given free rein. Jessica Beaulieu, Gary Skiba and Jack Murphy, the governor’s three most recent CPW Commission appointees who have not yet received Senate confirmation, ought not be confirmed by the full Senate.
Voting against this confirmation is a small step that carries a huge message. If voters are unwilling to draw a line in the sand and refuse to allow the governor to run roughshod, packing commissions like CPW with those willing to push agendas favored by environmental groups, the special-interest crowd will remain emboldened.
The problem with Polis’s nominees is their lack of actual experience with wildlife management or recreation, while some have ties to radical animal activist Marlon Reis — also known as Gov. Polis’s spouse.
Gabel writes that Skiba is the author of the wolf reintroduction plot in Colorado and comes from the Defenders of Wildlife — one of the most lethal animal rights groups on the spectrum when it comes to abusing the court system and wasting taxpayer dollars.
Murphy is the president of Urban Wildlife Rescue, and Beaulieu is a former fellow at the Center for Biological Diversity, both organizations that are more interested in politics than sound wildlife management.
Loading the commission with animal rights activists instead of practical wildlife managers may be good for the governor’s politics and keeping him out of trouble with the spouse, but it is not good for Colorado’s wildlife.
The state Senate should reject these nominees, but they won’t unless voters demand it.