A coalition of more than 20 agriculture, outdoor recreation and sports groups are advocating for the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee to reject three appointees to the state’s parks and wildlife commission.

The committee’s makeup indicates the appointees may have a tough time at today’s hearing, and the hearing comes at a time when the Polis administration is already under fire from ranchers and others over bungled communications tied to the release of wolves in Grand County in December. That included a contentious hearing in January in the same committee. 

The appointees, the coalition wrote in a letter obtained by Colorado Politics, are not qualified and have been appointed based on their biases against the very people they are supposed to represent. Notable among the coalition, at least five organizations representing outdoor recreation interests. 

The three appointees face confirmation hearings Thursday afternoon with the Senate committee. All three have ties to the animal rights community.

They are: 

• Jessica Beaulieu of Denver, Colorado, to serve as a representative of outdoor recreation and parks utilization
• John (Jack) Murphy of Aurora, Colorado, to serve as a representative of outdoor recreation and parks utilization and 
• Gary Skiba of Durango, Colorado, to serve as a representative of sportspersons and a member West of the Continental Divide

The appointment drawing the most attention is on Skiba, a biologist and wildlife manager for the San Juan Citizens Alliance in Durango and the former director of the La Plata Humane Society. He is credited as an author of the state’s wolf reintroduction ballot measure and has no ties to sportsperson’s organizations, nor is he known as an advocate for hunting or angling.

Beaulieu, the manager and an attorney with the University of Denver’s Animal Law program, advocates on behalf of “non-human animals.”

Murphy, co-founder and president of Urban Wildlife Rescue, is a “Wildlife Control Operator who resolves wildlife conflicts using only non-lethal and humane methods of wildlife eviction and exclusion techniques when education and/or co-existence are not a viable option.”

In July, Skiba’s appointment drew criticism at a parks and wildlife commission meeting. Grant Jerry of Woodland Park told the commission “Hunters and anglers are some of the strongest voices for wildlife conservation and habitat preservation, incredible partners when united with other outdoor users and environmental advocates.”

Hunters and anglers hold their sporting legacy very near and dear, “and we will not stand aside as powerful anti-hunting groups, veiled as animal rights activists, attempt to dismantle (or) discredit the North American Model and exclude hunters from wildlife management, while slowly whittling away at hunting opportunities for Coloradans,” he told the commission.

The coalition recommended Patt Dorsey, director of conservation operations for the National Wild Turkey Federation and who held several positions with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, but the governor’s office refused to answer when Colorado Politics asked three times why Skiba was selected over Dorsey.

In the letter, the coalition said the appointments reflect a “lack of qualifications of the proposed appointees for the roles they are being nominated for, their apparent biases, and our broader concerns regarding governance, transparency, and the future path of the CPW.”

Relations between CPW and the agricultural sector have suffered with the lack of transparency by the governor’s office and the department in their release of wolves in December. Ranchers and landowners have told lawmakers they will no longer work with the agency on conservation issues. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) officials, and the head of the Department of Natural Resources, have said they will strive to “do better.”

“Our objections to the current nominees for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission arise from a critical examination of their collective qualifications and perceived biases, which may hinder their ability to effectively fulfill the Commission’s diverse responsibilities and serve as equitable trustees of CPW,” the coalition wrote this week.

The coalition claimed the nominees lack broad recreational management experience, have demonstrated objections towards holistic science-based wildlife management and the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

These appointments also lack the balance the commission needs. Appointments should reflect “a comprehensive understanding of the intricate balance between conservation, recreation, economic impact, and community needs,” they wrote.

The Senate ag committee is made up of four Democrats and three Republicans. Committee chair Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Summit County, has sided with ranchers and others who have criticized the state’s wolf reintroduction efforts and could be the swing vote on the nominees.

The committee has two options: to send the nominations to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation or to send the appointees to the full Senate with an unfavorable recommendation. It will then be up to the Senate to vote up or down on the nominees.

This would not be the first time Gov. Jared Polis’ nominees have run into trouble over representation of interests with which they have no association. 

In 2020, the governor’s appointments to the state fair board were criticized for excluding Eastern Plains representation, including from the top-10 agriculture-producing counties in the state.

A stand-off on the last day of the 2020 session between those who opposed the nominees, including from enough Democrats to vote them down, led then-Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg to cancel the votes on the nominees. They were never approved by the state Senate.