Skeptical about fur bans? Yeah. I am. Lakewood Informer gives us an update on their citizens’ petition re. zoning. Another good source of local news.
Skeptical about fur bans? Yeah. I am.
A reader sent me the Club20 article (linked first below) which updates an earlier newsletter (linked second below) where the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) is trying to backdoor a statewide fur ban through the unelected CPW Commissioners.
This is, if you recall, something that was put on the ballot in Denver and soundly failed. Clearly CBD knows their chances with a vote, they know they have lots of friends among the CPW commissioners (thanks Jared Polis!), and they want to try to circumvent your vote on policy in Colorado.
As such I think Ms Browning (the author of the Club20 piece) and I depart here. She references skepticism about the effort and gives a rather thorough look at the issue from multiple perspectives,** I have none.
I look at the text at the start of the article and I see just about what I need to see and just about what I figured. Quoting:
“Jessica Beaulieu, a Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) commissioner, took a tenacious stand to put a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) – to ban all fur sales in Colorado – on the Nov. 13 meeting agenda. Given her comments concerning the time it was taking for CPW staff to review the petition, it was clear she is impatient to get a hearing on the petition, in fact she is in such a rush that she was willing to bypass a working group of stakeholders – who are working with CPW to evaluate the petition. ‘If we proceed with hearing the petitions without the workgroup, it’s kind of like we don’t need these groups,’ CPW Director Jeff Davis said during the meeting.”
Let me repeat from that quote: “...she was willing to bypass a working group of stakeholders”.
That’s some thoughtful policy and democracy (well, to the extent an unelected board making such decisions IS democracy) in action right there.
If you would like to join me in thanking commissioner Beaulieu for her commitment to process, send a civil email to her at her state address:
Jessica Beaulieu
jess.beaulieu@state.co.us
You can also check out the CPW commissioners website (linked third below), scrolling down to find “Commissioner Office Hours” and keep your eyes peeled for when she is doing one. Again, give her your civil thoughts during her office hours.
Lastly, you can contact any or all members of the Senate Ag committee (fourth link below) to give them your thoughts and ask them to speak up on this during the next CPW oversight hearing.
**As such, no matter where you land on the issue and whether you feel you can or ought to be swayed, it’s worth a look. As I’ve mentioned before, you are wise if nothing else to try and better understand the arguments the other side will make.
https://club20foundation.org/2025/11/browning-a-skeptical-look-at-a-proposed-ban-on-commercial-fur-sales/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOK6VVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF5VHl0WUVSaWpudWhBSnUzc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPNTE0NzcxNTY5MjI4MDYxAAEeQnQ8lnpdS12jU6WNA8nTZQK8PBql9CcVUmyq_cwqnEXNt_CszRq-45S3uy4_aem_9mF0YEul98URkfMnQ_oBjg
https://open.substack.com/pub/coloradoaccountabilityproject/p/cbd-wants-to-sneak-through-what-voters?r=15ij6n&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
https://cpw.state.co.us/committees/colorado-parks-and-wildlife-commission
https://leg.colorado.gov/committees/2025A/senate/AgricultureNaturalResources
Lakewood Informer gives us an update on their citizens’ petition re. zoning.
I wanted to share an update that came across my inbox. It’s a little stale by now (unless you’re already a subscriber to the Lakewood Informer Substack, and if you live there you oughta be), but the citizen’s initiative to stop Lakewood’s zoning changes is moving along well.
Lakewood’s City Clerk has ruled that the first two (of 4) petitions submitted are sufficient. There are two more out there, one is being reviewed as of this writing and the last is out until 12/6.
This, like the stories out of Greeley and Littleton, are great examples of people gathering together and getting involved at the local level to push back against things their local governments are doing.
I think, and perhaps this is an overreach, that this is also being heard and noted at the state capitol: Littleton and Lakewood are both responses to changes in zoning called for by Gov Polis’ policies.
More details are in the Lakewood Informer newsletter linked at bottom.
Related:
In the issue of the Lakewood Informer above where I found the bit about the zoning petitions, there was another story which I link to at bottom about dark money at play in Lakewood.
This is precisely the kind of stuff I mean when I talk about the importance of local, citizen journalists.
https://lakewoodinformer.com/dark-money-ties-to-lakewood-officials/
Another good source of local news.
I wanted to quickly highlight another good source of local news. The high Country Advocate is a relatively new startup that is doing some good work covering local news in and around the Pagosa Springs Area, so think Canon City, Fremont, Pagosa, Buena Vista, Chafee County, Custer County, etc.
They do statewide (and some national) coverage as well as opinion, but the first link below will take you directly to their local news coverage page. If you’re in or around hte area, bookmark this one and add it to your rounds.
In order to work at the local level, you need to be aware of what’s going on there and watching this page is a good way to do it.
https://www.highcountryadvocate.com/category/community/