Aaron Berscheid is a district wildlife officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Aaron covers the ìwildî side of Northeast El Paso County, including Black Forest, Falcon, Peyton and Calhan. He also covers some of Elbert County, north of U.S. Highway 24 and south of State Highway 86, including the towns of Elbert, Kiowa, Ramah, Simla, Matheson and a small portion of the Limon area.
Fall is in the air. The leaves have just started to change colors. And you may soon start seeing other colors among the trees: bright orange or pink vests and hats identifying hunters.†Both sights ó the beauty of the trees turning and of the hunters in their own fall ritual ó are something to celebrate.I suggest that we should celebrate hunters because of the important role they play in wildlife management and population health across Colorado.†Not all of you may be hunters. Some of you may even be opposed to hunting. But without† hunters, the Colorado landscape would be a much different place. No matter your position on the sport, itís hard to deny that hunting plays a positive role in our ecosystem.†Hunters help by regulating game animal populations so they do not overpopulate and are kept in a proper balance with all the other species that occupy their geographical habitat.†This balance is critical. Each geographic area can only support a finite number of moose, elk, deer, mountain lion, bear, pronghorn, bobcat, coyote or whatever. Too many deer in an area might strip the landscape of all the grasses other animals need to survive, and they would die off or simply leave.Itís a delicate balancing act by Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists to study populations and determine how many of each species an area can support. Noah and his Ark had it easy, only taking two of each species.And CPWís job would be even harder if we didnít have hunters out in the fields, and forests bringing down various herd populations.It is also important for the balance between humans and wildlife. Human development is ever increasing in Colorado Springs, which reduces normal habitat for wildlife.†Some wildlife respond by leaving the area, but other animals change their behavior and adapt to the new environment. This can cause issues like overpopulation as hunting can be a tricky proposition around developed areas.This wildlife trend can be seen across the Colorado Springs region with all the deer that make the Pikes Peak region their home. Itís a tricky issue because managing deer within city limits is impossible. We can send hunters in to thin the herds. This leads to more conflicts and health issues for the deer.Hunters also are important for predator control. Many predatory animals like mountain lions and bears are charismatic creatures that many people donít like to see hunted. But there is a very important reason to manage their populations.†Predators tend to be territorial. If we get too many predators in one area, the dominant animals will drive out the others, sending them on a desperate search for food. Thatís when they start showing up in cities, looking for food in places they would normally not look.By hunting these predators, we can stem the movement of them into places people live.†Finally, thereís a financial benefit to taxpayers from allowing hunting. Did you know hunters are the main contributors funding habitat improvement projects, wildlife management causes and conservation of all animals whether they are game animals or not?License sales and hunting equipment sales are the primary sources for money that is used for conservation.†There are many more reasons that wonít all fit in this article. And if you ever have any questions about hunting, you can call or email me at my contact info below.In the coming months, Iíll share more of those stories as I write about wildlife issues in our community: Got a question, problem or column idea, please email me at aaron.berscheid@state.co.us or call me at 719-227-5231.†I might even answer your question in a future installment of ìWildlife Matters.î
