Ritter reaches out on outdoors

Beauprez's support for drilling, mining has alienated many

Stuart Steers, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 2, 2006 at midnight

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Eddie Kochman wanted to make absolutely sure Bill Ritter understood sportsmen's issues before he backed him for governor - so he arranged for Ritter to go fly fishing with him on his property near Fairplay earlier this summer.

Much to his surprise, he discovered the former Denver district attorney is an accomplished fisherman.

"We didn't talk politics," said Kochman, the retired head of the state fisheries program. "He caught several fish that day. He's a damn good fisherman."

That was enough to convince Kochman that Ritter understood sportsmen.

Hunters and fishermen are usually thought of as Republican-leaning, but Democrat Ritter has spent months courting them.

"Sportsmen tend to be on the conservative side, but the sportsmen community is in flux," said Ivan James, vice-chairman of the Colorado Bowhunters Association. James is a Republican but said he has grown dissatisfied with the party.

Ritter's opponent, Republican Congressman Bob Beauprez, has tried to appeal to sportsmen by highlighting his opposition to gun control. But many sportsmen are upset with Republican-backed policies they blame for emphasizing oil and gas development at the expense of wildlife.

"It's the roads and all the activity that comes with drilling," said Kochman. "It pushes the animals out and affects breeding and calving. Fragmentation of habitat is a major threat."

Beauprez has recently been pushing a proposal to replace elk and mule deer habitat disrupted by energy development with new habitat, especially in northwestern Colorado, home to some of the largest migratory herds in North America. Under his plan, public and private funds would be used to create "off-site" habitat away from the drilling.

"Sportsmen are seeing development in the areas where our most treasured wildlife is," said John Marshall, a spokesman for Beauprez. "This is a group that's traditionally Republican, and they feel strongly that Republicans ought to be out in front of this."

However, Beauprez's plan has been met with derision from many sportsmen. They question if elk can be simply redirected from their accustomed habitat.

"It's ludicrous; we got a good chuckle over it," said Duke Cox, president of the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance, a Garfield County group that is critical of gas drilling. "It would be great if you could give elk vouchers to relocate."

Beauprez has been a strong supporter of both oil and gas and the mining industries in Congress.

Last year he backed a change in mining laws that would have transferred thousands of acres of wild Colorado land into private hands. That bill outraged dozens of sportsmens' groups, prompting more than 40 state hunting and fishing organizations to band together to oppose the measure. The bill passed the House by two votes, but was killed in the Senate.

"Everywhere you go you run into mining claims," said Lester Mundy of Trinidad. "If all that stuff were sold we'd have a lot of people living in the middle of the U.S. forests."

Mundy hunts mountain lions with a pack of nine dogs and is active in the United Houndsmen of Colorado, one of the groups that fought the mining law proposal.

Marshall said he thought the mining law would have helped Western mining towns.

"Bob Beauprez doesn't want to sell off Rocky Mountain National Park," said Marshall. "He would have opposed selling off large chunks of public land in Colorado."

To reach sportsmen, Beauprez has recently emphasized his opposition to gun control, attacking Ritter's past criticism of the state's concealed carry law and other proposals championed by gun rights groups. The Colorado State Shooting Association, the main pro-gun group in the state, has endorsed Beauprez.

Earlier this week, the League of Conservation Voters named Beauprez to their "dirty dozen" list of legislators, criticizing him for voting to exempt the oil and gas industry from some environmental laws.

Ritter picked up the endorsement Friday of dozens of former Division of Wildlife employees, including three former directors, John Mumma, Perry Olson and Jim Ruch.

Hunting and fishing licenses issued in 2005

Hunting 796,000

Fishing 720,000Source: Colorado Division Of Wildlife

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