CPW Commission elects Dallas May as new Chair; new Vice Chair and Secretary also named

Joey Livingston
Statewide Public Information Officer
303-345-4658 / [email protected]

DENVER – Today, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission voted to appoint Dallas May as the Commission Chair for a one-year term. The Commission also elected Dr. Richard Reading as Vice Chair and Karen Bailey as Secretary of the Parks and Wildlife Commission. 

May was appointed to the Commission in 2020, and currently serves on the Commission as the Vice Chair as a representative for agricultural producers. He will replace current Commission Chair Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser, whose term expires in July 2023.

Dallas May was born and raised in Colorado in a ranching and farming family. When he was young, he started a herd of purebred Limousin cattle from one heifer calf given to him by his grandpa on his thirteenth birthday. That began a lifelong quest to protect native grassland and wildlife habitat. Today, he sells purebred breeding stock all over the United States and Mexico, and also operates an irrigated farm operation raising alfalfa and corn.

Several years ago, May partnered with Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust, The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Western Landowners Alliance and several other groups to place a conservation easement on his ranch. The May Ranch won the 2021 Colorado Leopold Conservation Award. May serves on several boards and committees associated with water issues to protect water rights and keep local communities viable and give them the opportunity to thrive.

Newly elected Vice Chair Dr. Richard Reading has served on the Commission as a public-at-large representative since 2022. Reading is the Vice President of Science and Conservation at Butterfly Pavilion. He serves as an Adjunct Professor within the Department of Biology at the University of Denver, is Affiliate Faculty with the Department of Agricultural Biology at Colorado State University and is a Fellow with the University of Nebraska’s Center for Great Plains Studies. 

Dr. Reading serves on the boards of directors or advisors for several nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and overseas, serves as an associate editor for 5 scientific journals, has published over 230 scientific papers and book chapters, written dozens of popular articles and written or edited nine books.​

Commissioner Karen Michelle Bailey was elected to replace current Secretary Marie Haskett. Bailey was appointed to the Commission as a Member at Large in 2021. Bailey is an assistant professor in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is an interdisciplinary scientist interested in understanding how human-environment interactions impact human health and well-being and natural resources and conservation.

Her work is focused in conservation landscapes and climate-vulnerable communities in rural landscapes across the world, with a particular focus on southern and East Africa. She is interested in sustainable livelihoods, wildlife conservation, global change, and coupled human-natural systems. She also has a commitment to justice, equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion in science and natural resource management and conducts research to amplify the voices of those most impacted by environmental change.​

The CPW Commission is composed of 11 governor-appointed members and sets regulations and policies for Colorado’s state parks and wildlife programs. For more information on the CPW Commission and existing members, visit cpw.state.co.us.