CPW releases its 2023 Future Generations Act Report and Strategic Plan Progress Report

Travis Duncan
Public Information Supervisor
720-595-8294 / [email protected]

DENVER - Colorado Parks and Wildlife is pleased to share this year’s annual 2023 Future Generations Act Report and the Strategic Plan Progress Report.

CPW staff is devoted to maintaining the agency’s important mission while also exploring innovative ways to accomplish our strategic goals so programs can evolve with the growing needs of our customers. As programs grow, our staff plays an integral role in sharing their passion and expertise to secure our outdoor heritage and wildlife legacy in Colorado for years to come. 

About the Future Generations Act Report
The 2023 Future Generations Act Report documents CPW's work towards fulfilling the 10 goals outlined in the Future Generations Act legislation. CPW has committed to fulfilling these 10 goals by 2025. Through ongoing and intentional work by CPW to achieve the goals, significant progress has been made towards ensuring that future generations have access to the quality hunting, fishing and outdoor recreational opportunities we enjoy today.

CPW had several great successes this year and we are making progress on all 10 goals outlined in the Future Generations Act.

• CPW continued to increase the number of hunters and anglers in Colorado through investments in recruitment programs, such as hunter education and Fishing is Fun, the development of the Cameo Shooting and Education Complex, and grants for shooting ranges in all regions of the state. The number of fishing license holders and hunting license holders have increased over the five-year period from 2017-2021.
• We’re recruiting and retaining qualified employees to manage wildlife, park, recreational, and aquatic resources. CPW saw significant growth in the number of people who applied for the park ranger and wildlife manager positions in 2022.
• CPW continues to support access programs on public and private lands, including the renewal of existing high-priority leases that provide public access for hunters, anglers, and outdoor recreationists. Last year, we awarded 16 non-motorized trail grants totaling nearly $2 million, five Land and Water Conservation Fund grants for community projects totaling nearly $4.6 million, 60 off-highway vehicle (OHV) grants totaling over $6.2 million, and 32 snowmobile grants totaling nearly $1.2 million.
• We’re increasing and improving the state's big game populations through investments in habitat and conservation, including increased support for highway wildlife crossings to protect animals and motorists. CPW is committed to protecting big game herds by maintaining habitat connectivity and working to remove migration barriers that may exist. The Habitat Conservation Unit has been working to develop its first Statewide Habitat Conservation and Connectivity Plan (SHCCP), which they hope to finalize by June 2024.
• We’re identifying and beginning to plan the development of new Colorado state park areas and investing in other initiatives to maintain excellent customer service and quality park facilities. The agency is currently building out Fishers Peak State Park, Colorado Clays State Recreation Area and investing in operations, maintenance and customer service.
• CPW is reducing the $44.76 million maintenance and repair backlog for 11 of the dams owned and operated by the agency. We’re making dam rehabilitation a priority by allocating capital construction funds to dam improvement projects ahead of any other capital construction projects.
• We’re increasing the number of fish stocked in Colorado water to more than 90 million through the development of a statewide hatchery modernization plan, renovation of one of the state's 19 fish hatcheries, and reduction in the maintenance backlog for all hatcheries, many of which are 70 to 100 years old.
• We’re reducing the division's known $26 million large capital construction and maintenance backlog by 50% and establishing a capital development backlog strategic plan to provide a stable funding stream to address future maintenance projects at state wildlife areas and state parks. Funding from the General Assembly in 2021 added $20 million of General Fund dollars (Senate Bill 21-112) to support parks infrastructure projects to provide facility and public access improvements at 12 parks statewide by expanding or enhancing facilities that are seeing a great deal of public use.
• We’re reducing the need to list additional state trust species under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 by partnering with private landowners to improve species distribution, abundance monitoring and disease prevention efforts. In Fiscal Year 2023, CPW spent almost $12.2 million on the conservation of non-game species and habitat through research, population status monitoring, reintroduction, habitat protection and restoration benefitting threatened and endangered species.

About the Strategic Plan
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Strategic Plan (Plan), finalized in November 2015, provides a roadmap for achieving the agency’s vision and mission through concrete goals and objectives.

To implement the Plan, CPW develops two-year Operational Plans containing actionable sub-objectives and measurable metrics that track the outcomes and impacts of our work. The annual Strategic Plan Progress Report provides a snapshot of CPW's work by highlighting our accomplishments on 67 sub-objectives.  

• We achieved the development and unanimous approval of the Colorado Wolf Reintroduction and Management Plan. That was in addition to all the fantastic work by staff to conserve wildlife and habitat, and manage and monitor species of greatest conservation need while working with partners to maintain viable populations.
• We continued our work toward achieving financial sustainability, launching a whole new model of agency funding this past year with the new Keep Colorado Wild (KCW) Pass. Starting on January 1, 2023, the KCW Pass became available to Coloradans when they register their vehicles and grants access to all Colorado state parks. After just the first six months, over 782,000 Coloradans have the Keep Colorado Wild Pass, generating over $22 million. 
• We continued our long tradition conserving wildlife and habitat, rolling out a successful new approach for completing Herd Management Plan revisions.
• We continued managing our state parks for world-class outdoor recreation, conducting resource surveys for birds, amphibians, reptiles, bats, small mammals, and cultural resources, developing resource stewardship plans for five state parks, and updating the management plans for Lathrop and Golden Gate state parks.
• We took lessons from our Community Partnership Principles Guide, which was developed by the Colorado Equity Alliance. This guide provides best practices to advance inclusive and equitable community engagement practices and foster participation from traditionally underrepresented populations in decision-making. We put these Principles into practice by incorporating them into the processes for the Fishers Peak Master Plan, the Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, and the design and development of the Outdoor Equity Fund.
• We connected people to Colorado’s outdoors. In its first year of operation, the Outdoor Equity Grant Program awarded nearly $3.1 million to 69 organizations, providing funding to support opportunities for youth and their families from communities who have been historically excluded, so that they have equitable opportunities to get involved in recreational activities and experience Colorado’s outdoors.
• We increased awareness and trust for CPW. The agency completed a full audit of the existing website over the past year and now we’re preparing to launch a new website in 2024 with a focus on the customer journey and will more effectively meet our customers’ needs.
• We continued important partnerships and programs that expand education and opportunities for young people to envision a career in natural resources, and maintained a strong and dedicated volunteer base.
• We maintained dedicated personnel and volunteers. In 2021, CPW’s hiring process for park ranger and wildlife manager positions took approximately eight months from when positions were announced to when new employees were hired. In 2022, CPW reduced the time from job announcement to when conditional job offers were made to just 1.5 months. As a result of these efforts, CPW saw significant growth in the number of people who applied for the park ranger and wildlife manager positions in 2022.

Learn more about CPW’s mission and the programs that help ensure the Colorado we all enjoy today will remain available and enjoyable for future generations. We thank you for your trust in Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and for allowing us to serve you and our state’s land, waters and wildlife.