FUNDING AVAILABLE TO EXPAND WALK-IN ACCESS ON WESTERN SLOPE
The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) is seeking to expand its Walk-In Access Program in western Colorado. Additional funding has been provided to enroll acreages where landowners are interested in providing public small game, turkey and waterfowl access during the upcoming hunting seasons. Big game hunting is not part of this program.
The Walk-In Access Program was originally designed to give hunters in eastern Colorado opportunity to harvest pheasants and small game. Additionally, the program provides an alternative revenue opportunity for landowners outside of the usual crop growing season.
“Walk-In Access is a win-win program,” explained Area Wildlife Manager Dean Riggs. “Landowners gain income, which helps keep important farmlands from being converted to subdivisions and sportsmen get access to areas where hunting might not otherwise be allowed.”
Because of the Walk-In Access Program’s popularity and success in eastern Colorado, the DOW expanded the program last year in several Western Slope areas.
Landowners in Mesa County that are interested in finding out more information are invited to attend a Walk-In Access open house at the Grand Junction DOW office on Friday July 6. The open house will run from 7 to 9 p.m. in the DOW Hunter Education building at 711 Independent Ave.
Landowners with Canada goose fields can earn from $5 to $20 per acre, depending on the amount of goose hunting land they own. Fields are evaluated on their potential for goose hunting opportunity prior to their acceptance into the program. Parcels including corn stubble fields, green winter wheat, alfalfa and hay meadows are prime examples of the type of goose fields the DOW is looking to enroll.
Property owners that own large undeveloped and unfarmed tracts of land can also benefit from the program by providing small game hunting access. Lands that provide opportunities for bobcat, chukar, dusky grouse, prairie dogs, coyotes and other small game animals are being sought.
Signs are posted on enrolled parcels at DOW expense. The signs mark the areas open for public hunting. The parcels are identified in a Walk-In Access Program Atlas that is printed each year. Landowners are not identified in the atlas.
“It’s called a ‘walk-in’ program for a reason,” added Paul Creeden, District Wildlife Manager for the Fruita area. “Hunters are not allowed to enter properties using vehicles or horses, they must hunt on foot.”
Hunters participating in the program must purchase a $20 walk-in access permit where hunting and fishing licenses are sold. All normal hunting regulations apply on Walk-In Access properties.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife is the state agency responsible for managing wildlife and its habitat, as well as providing wildlife related recreation. The Division is funded through hunting and fishing license fees, federal grants and Colorado Lottery proceeds through Great Outdoors Colorado.
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For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.