Sales for both hunting and fishing licenses are up in Colorado this year.
According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, over 624,000 people applied for the big game draw this year, up from 609,000 in 2019. And so far, CPW has sold over 940,000 fishing licenses — roughly 200,000 more than last year.
“We’re definitely seeing more people hunting, more people fishing, and more people getting outside and getting to public lands and recreating outside in general,” said Travis Duncan with CPW.
Visitation to Colorado’s state parks has also increased this year. In July, Colorado’s 41 state parks saw roughly 3.5 million visitors. That’s 1 million more than the same time period last year. Duncan called the increased enthusiasm for the outdoors a “double-edged sword” and said CPW is asking visitors to pick up after themselves to minimize their impact.
The increase in sales and visitation is a good thing for CPW’s revenue. The agency’s biggest chunk of revenue, about 55%, comes from license sales.
“Those funds definitely help the agency and help the conservation work we do, the wildlife management work we do,” said Duncan. “So that’s definitely a real positive.”
Although refunds are available to big game hunters whose plans were affected by COVID-19, Duncan said so far not many people are taking CPW up on that option.
The agency is asking hunters to take precautions so they don’t accidentally spread COVID-19 as they plan their trips this year — like bringing everything they need with them and filling up on gas close to home if they can, especially if heading from crowded Front Range communities to more rural areas.
