WALK-IN HUNTING ACCESS MEETING IN CORTEZ
Rural landowners from the areas around Dolores, Cortez, Mancos and Dove Creek are invited to attend a meeting about a new hunter-access program sponsored by the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
This meeting is specifically for landowners who are interested in allowing public access to their land for spring turkey hunting. Landowners who offer or who are interested in offering fall waterfowl hunting access are also invited to attend.
The meeting will be from 6-8 p.m., Jan. 29 at Koko’s Pub, 2121 E. Main St. in Cortez.
At the meeting, officers from the DOW will explain the agency’s “Walk-in Access Program”, a statewide effort to open private land to public hunters. The walk-in program has been in place for many years on Colorado’s eastern plains and has been popular with landowners and hunters who are given access to hundreds of thousands of acres of land. Landowners support the program and 90 percent of them reapply to be included year after year. One benefit of the program is that landowners who are enrolled in the program report a decline in trespass problems.
While most of the land in southwest Colorado is publicly owned, thousands of acres of private property are located in prime wildlife habitat.
Property owners who participate in the program are eligible to earn from $5 to $20 per acre depending on the amount of property available for hunting. Enrolled properties are clearly marked with Division of Wildlife “Walk-in Access” signs. Property locations are published in a walk-in atlas produced by the DOW. Landowners are not identified in the atlas. Access for hunters to the enrolled properties is by foot only. No vehicles or horses are permitted.
Landowners who cannot attend the meeting but who are interested should contact the Durango area DOW office to speak to their local wildlife officer: (970) 247-0855.