Colorado
Hunting groups sue Colorado wildlife commissioners over mountain lion hunting op-ed ahead of election
Two influential hunting organizations are suing members of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission saying they violated Colorado Open Meetings Law and spread false information about mountain lion hunting prior to last month’s vote on Proposition 127, which would have banned the hunting and trapping of mountain lions, lynx and bobcats.
When the proposition failed by a margin of less than 5 percentage points, it marked the first time since 1992 that Colorado voters rejected a wildlife ballot proposal and stirred hope among some of a bridging of Colorado’s urban-rural divide.
But Safari Club International and The Sportsmens Alliance Foundation sued commissioners Jessica Beaulieu and Jack Murphy as well as former commissioner James Pribyl in Denver County Court over an opinion piece published in The Durango Herald on Oct. 12, supporting the proposition.
Beaulieu and Murphy both represent outdoor recreation and parks utilization on the commission.
The piece criticized lion hunting as a “highly unpopular, unscientific and unwarranted abuse and exploitation” of wildlife that “in no way contributes” to the “bright future of ethical outdoor recreation” in Colorado.
It also called out “a small lion-hunting industry” that guarantees 100% trophy lion harvest, the needless killing of female lions, and CPW itself, for offering cougar hunting “to serve mountain lion hunters alone, for a recreational opportunity.”
The Safari Club and the Sportsmen’s Alliance are alleging Beaulieu and Murphy violated Colorado’s Open Meetings Law because the column was written while the commission was actively considering a revised mountain lion management plan for the Eastern Slope. The management plan passed unanimously Nov. 15 after extensive public comment opposing the plan.
The lawsuit also alleges Murphy and Beaulieu had to have discussed writing the column that “flatly — and falsely — criticized Colorado’s current mountain lion and bobcat management programs” outside of a public meeting.
“But the hunting of mountain lions and bobcats is ‘public business’ under the Open Meetings Law,” the lawsuit alleges, and “the CPW Commissioners had these discussions without appropriate public notice and opportunity to participate.”
And the plaintiffs, calling the op-ed itself “a meeting under the Open Meetings Law,” say it harmed them because it put “false information into the public discourse.”
The organizations are asking the court to find Murphy and Beaulieu violated the law and to prohibit them from doing it again.
Neither hunting group responded to requests for comment.
“Commissioners can speak as private citizens”
In an Oct. 24 email to The Colorado Sun after the op-ed was published, CPW spokesperson Travis Duncan said the commissioners had not broken any laws.
“Voting Commissioners are not DNR employees, they are unpaid volunteers, so they do not fall under DNR’s HR personnel rules,” he wrote. “As the Commissioners were speaking as private citizens, this subject was not before the commission as an item of business and no open meeting law violation occurred.”
Jeff Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, said that although the open meetings law says a meeting is open when two or more members of a state public body discuss public business, Colorado courts say there must be a demonstrated link between the content of a meeting and the public body’s policy-making responsibilities.
So because commissioners are not involved in deciding whether hunting of mountain lions and bobcats should be prohibited, he said, there was no link between the commissioners’ opinions in the op-ed and the commissions’ work.
A paper published by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University in October, argues that “accepting a government office — including an elected or appointed position — does not divest a speaker of all First Amendment rights.”
But Dan Gates, executive director of Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management, believes the plaintiffs are justified in suing the commissioners.
In an email to The Sun, he said Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management hopes “all appointed individuals adhere to the requirements of public process and procedures and protocols” because “while having a personal opinion is one thing, how one conveys or represents that opinion or how it was worked on with others, might be another matter.”
Beaulieu and Murphy told the commission they had no part in the letter writing during opening remarks at the Nov. 14 meeting.
“At no point did I communicate with commissioner Murphy about writing the op-ed or pending commission business, including the East Slope Mountain Lion Plan,” Beaulieu said.
“There was no collusion. We simply signed off on a letter. We did not talk about it at all. Not one single word was written by either one of us,” Murphy added.
Pribyl and advocates drafted the letter
Ellen Stein, opinion editor at The Durango Herald, said the letter came via email from Julie Marshall, public relations director for Animal Wellness Action, the group behind Proposition 127.
Marshall told The Sun Pribyl, the former commissioner, “and experts from the campaign” wrote the letter after which Beaulieu and Murphy were each sent drafts.
“Jess got a copy to see if she agreed in substance and wanted to add her name,” Marshall said. “Jack also got a copy separately and was offered the same thing to sign on. No seated commissioners met together ever. No seated commissioners were ever on the same email ever. They acted entirely alone in their own capacity as citizens. There is nothing nefarious or illegal here.”
“Safari Club is engaging in lawfare to attack on baseless grounds and chill speech because of the substance of the issue alone,” she added. “That is anti-democratic.”
Commissioner Marie Haskett, who represents sportspersons and outfitters, submitted her own letter to the editor in the Rio Blanco Herald Times on Oct. 10 urging a no vote on Prop. 127.
Colorado Sun reporter Jason Blevins contributed to this report.
DENVER – Two big weather stories will play out Wednesday in Colorado’s High Country and portions of the plains and I-25 corridor as high winds are expected to batter portions of the state. The wind and low humidity will also create conditions for the rapid spread of any fire along the I-25 corridor including the Denver metro area.
“It will be another unseasonable warm day on Tuesday, which is day 8 of 60 degree plus temps,” said Lisa Hidalgo, Denver7 chief meteorologist. “Unfortunately with the warmer, dry and windy conditions, we’re looking at higher fire danger.”
“Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Strong winds will likely lead to rapid fire growth of any new fire,” wrote National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters in Boulder.
Denver7
A high wind warning starts at 11 a.m Wednesday and will be in effect until midnight.
“Strong downslope winds to impact the mountains, foothills, and I-25 corridor Wednesday afternoon into Wednesday night, with potential for widespread gusts 60-85 mph, strongest near the base of the foothills. Breezy conditions will extend into the plains through Thursday morning.”
Colorado’s mountains and foothills above 9,000 feet could see up to 85 mph wind gusts on Wednesday. Wind gusts between 50 to 70 mph are also possible for the lower foothills and communities on the western side of the I-25 corridor, wrote the NWS, which called the weather system a “high impact wind event.”
NWS Boulder
A red flag warning will go into effect starting at 11 a.m. Wednesday for the I-25 corridor to include Fort Collins, Boulder, the Denver metro, and Castle Rock through Colorado Springs.
The NWS said the “primary window of concern” will run through 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Weather News
Xcel Energy will likely shut off power Wednesday due to forecasted strong winds
Due to the wind situation, Xcel Energy customers should be advised the utility is planning for a Public Safety Power Shutoff, or PSPS, on Wednesday which means power would be proactively shut off in targeted areas for a period of time when wildfire risk is extremely high.
Before any PSPS would happen, Xcel Energy would first use another tool called Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings or EPSS.
EPSS are extra protections which allow power lines to remain active until an issue is detected such as “a tree branch or other object touching” a line, according to Xcel Energy.
Once an issue is detected, power to the line is shut off.
NWS Boulder
While Tuesday will remain mostly dry in Colorado, the weather system triggering Wednesday’s high winds will also bring snow to the higher elevations.
Hidalgo said there is a slight chance a shower could roll across the Denver metro area late Wednesday afternoon into the early evening hours.
Stay with Denver7 for updates and we will publish a live, Colorado weather blog tracking impacts on Wednesday.
Denver7’s Stephanie Butzer contributed to this report.
Denver7
DENVER WEATHER LINKS: Hourly forecast | Radars | Traffic | Weather Page | 24/7 Weather Stream
Click here to watch the Denver7 live weather stream.
Colorado
Colorado’s unaffiliated voters, who make up half the electorate, hold dim view of both parties, poll finds
Madison Osberger-Low/The Aspen Times
An overwhelming majority of Colorado’s unaffiliated voters say they reject both major parties and want to see Democrats and Republicans become more moderate, according to the findings of a new statewide poll.
Let Colorado Vote, a nonprofit founded by Kent Thiry, a multimillionaire and the former CEO of the Denver-based dialysis company DaVita, commissioned a survey of 1,210 active voters last month to gauge the sentiments of unaffiliated voters.
The poll was conducted by Keating Research from Nov. 10-17, and included 600 unaffiliated voters, 300 Democrats, 300 Republicans, and 10 others. The poll had an overall margin of error of 2.8 percentage points, and a 4 percentage point margin of error for unaffiliated voters. It had a 3.2 percentage point margin of error for likely 2026 voters.
Currently, 49.7% of all active Colorado voters are unaffiliated, a figure that has grown in recent years as political party registration shrinks. By comparison, just 25% of active registered voters are Democrats, and 23% are Republicans. Unaffiliated voters make up the majority of active voters in 21 Colorado counties, including Summit, Grand, Eagle, Garfield, Routt and Pitkin.
Thiry has been heavily involved in efforts to reshape Colorado’s political system in ways that give unaffiliated voters more voice. He was at the forefront of a successful 2016 ballot initiative that opened party primary elections to unaffiliated voters, and a 2018 measure that put redistricting in the hands of independent redistricting commissions, rather than state lawmakers.
Thiry said the results of last month’s poll dispel the theory that the state’s growing unaffiliated electorate is due to the state’s automatic voter registration. The poll found that more than 8 in 10 unaffiliated voters said they chose their status intentionally, rejecting both major parties. Most unaffiliated voters, 54%, also chose to refer to themselves as “independent.”
“Some partisans like to say, ‘Oh, independents are just too lazy, and they like to default to being an independent,” Thiry said during a virtual briefing last week on the poll results. “Not true. Look at the data — 85% of people chose to be an independent. It was a conscious decision.”
Unaffiliated voters who were surveyed said they want Democrats and Republicans to move away from the extreme flanks of their parties. Sixty-four percent said they want Democrats to become more moderate, compared to 65% who want the Republican Party to become more moderate.
When asked which party has become the most extreme, a plurality of unaffiliated voters, 45%, said Republicans, while 36% said Democrats and 14% said both. Despite their dim view of the two political parties, unaffiliated voters still tend to vote for a Democratic or Republican candidate during elections, and usually lean toward Democrats.
Thirty-five percent said they usually or always vote for the Democratic candidate, while 35% said they sometimes vote for a Democrat and sometimes a Republican. Twenty-six percent said they always or usually vote for the Republican.
Thiry is critical of Colorado’s current primary system, in which candidates from the same party compete to be their party’s nominee in a general election, arguing that it gives unaffiliated voters fewer choices, since they must choose to vote in one party’s primary.
In heavily partisan districts, the primary is often the election of consequence, with the winning candidate usually cruising to victory in the general election.
“The current system tends to drive an excessive percentage of candidates who are far-left or far-right, and it is much more difficult for an independent to pick someone who hangs around center-left or center-right,” Thiry said, adding that unaffiliated voters tend to vote for the “person, not the party.”
More than 7 in 10 unaffiliated voters said Congress is dysfunctional, not representative, and their vote doesn’t really matter. A similar number said they are frustrated with how often only a single candidate runs in primary elections.
Unaffiliated voters’ negative view of the political establishment extends from federal offices to the state level. Sixty-two percent view President Donald Trump unfavorably compared to 37% in favor, while 57% view the Colorado Republican Party unfavorably compared to 37% in favor.
They have a 56% unfavorable-to-39 % favorable view of the Colorado Democratic Party and a 48% unfavorable-to-36 % favorable view of the state legislature, which Democrats control.
Chris Keating, who runs the polling firm that conducted the survey, said the “largest defining characteristic of Colorado’s registered independent voters is that they are younger.”
Sixty-six percent of voters aged 18-34 are registered as unaffiliated. Keating’s poll found that the median age of an unaffiliated voter is 42, compared to 49 for Democrats and 54 for Republicans. Keating added that Hispanic active voters and men are slightly more likely to be unaffiliated.
Other findings from the poll include:
- The top three issues for unaffiliated voters in Colorado are housing affordability and the cost of living, taxes, spending and budget issues, and political leadership and polarization
- Fifty-two percent of unaffiliated voters say Colorado is on the wrong track, compared to 41% who say it is heading in the right direction
- Unaffiliated voters trust Republicans significantly more than Democrats when it comes to crime, and slightly more on immigration. They trust Democrats significantly more on issues of education, democracy and voting, the environment and conservation, and slightly more when it comes to inflation and the cost of living
- Sixty percent of unaffiliated voters favor keeping the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in place as a way of keeping government spending in check and giving voters the final say on tax increases, compared to 26% who say TABOR should be repealed because it prevents the state from adequately funding schools, roads and health care
- In a generic matchup of congressional candidates, 44% of unaffiliated voters said they would vote for the Democratic candidate, compared to 38% who said they would vote for the Republican candidate if the election were held today
- Of 916 likely 2026 voters surveyed, Democrats hold a 14-percentage-point lead in the generic congressional matchup, and Trump’s favorability is minus 27 percentage points
To remedy some voter dissatisfaction and give Coloradans more choice in elections, Thiry advocated for moving to an “open” primary system, in which candidates of all political backgrounds can compete on a single ballot that is open to all voters, regardless of their party affiliation.
“I get accused all the time of wanting to destroy the two-party system — I think they’re doing a great job of destroying it themselves,” Thiry said. “What we’re proposing is to save that, to get them back to where they’re representing the core Americans who are center-left, center-right and center-center.”
Thiry pushed for open primaries in 2024 as part of Proposition 131, which sought to abolish party primaries for congressional races and state elections in favor of an open ballot. The measure would also have instituted ranked-choice voting in general elections for those same races. Unite America, a national nonprofit that Thiry co-chairs, has led similar election reform measures in more than a dozen other states. Still, Proposition 131 was ultimately rejected by voters in Colorado last year.
Curtis Hubbard, a Colorado political strategist who served as a spokesperson for the Proposition 131 campaign, said a post-election assessment found that most voters supported open primaries but were confused by ranked-choice voting.
“When voters are confused, they default to ‘No,’” Hubbard said. “The open primary is something that voters actually like. They like the idea of being able to support candidates, the best candidates, on the ballot regardless of party.”
Proposition 131 was defeated by just over 7 percentage points, with 53.5% of Colorado voters against the measure and 46.5% in favor. Thiry signaled there will be future attempts to revive the effort.
“We got awfully close, despite the complexity of our proposal,” Thiry said. “The reservoir of support was very strong, and going forward, we’re probably going to pay more attention to the fully open primary than ranked choice voting, in the short term.”
The offseason in MLS is in full swing and The Athletic has you covered on all the latest breaking news.
Here’s the latest I’m hearing around the league…
Colorado Rapids to acquire Sealy
The Rapids are finalizing a deal to acquire Trinidad and Tobago international winger Dante Sealy from CF Montréal, sources briefed on the situation tell The Athletic. Montréal will receive around $2 million GAM from the Rapids, sources add.
Sealy, 22, was a highly rated graduate of FC Dallas’ academy and moved to Montréal ahead of the 2025 season, enjoying a breakout campaign with nine goals and two assists.
Colorado is among the most aggressive teams in the trade market, seeking young, domestic-based talent, and Sealy is the latest example. He previously spent two seasons with PSV’s second team as well, where he made 54 appearances.
It’s a busy winter of change for the Rapids, who will name Tottenham assistant Matt Wells their next head coach, The Athletic reported last week. He has been involved in player acquisition decisions.
CF Monterrey bid for Orellano
Liga MX’s Monterrey has submitted a bid to sign Luca Orellano from FC Cincinnati, sources briefed on the situation tell The Athletic. Orellano was the subject of bids from Cruz Azul last winter, but ultimately signed a new contract to stay.
Orellano, 25, is a natural winger who has excelled in a wingback role for Cincy. He had a strong debut season with 10 goals and seven assists in 2024 but didn’t match that output this past year as he struggled with injury. He had two goals and six assists in just under 2,000 minutes.
Monterrey is one of the highest-spending Liga MX clubs and has acquired talent from MLS clubs before – including from Cincinnati, when Los Rayados signed forward Brandon Vazquez in 2024.
READ MORE
Orlando City to sign Coronel
Orlando City is finalizing a deal to sign Paraguay international goalkeeper Carlos Coronel, sources briefed on the deal tell The Athletic.
Coronel is a free agent after departing the Red Bulls this winter. He was one of the best players in this free agency class.
Orlando was looking to sign a new starting goalkeeper after longtime backstop Pedro Gallese departed this winter when his contract expired.
Coronel, 28, made 180 appearances for the Red Bulls, an anchor for their playoff run to reach MLS Cup in 2024, where they fell to the LA Galaxy. He made 31 MLS appearances in 2025.
Coronel has nine caps for Paraguay, starting the first six matches in World Cup qualifying. Paraguay, which will open the 2026 World Cup as the co-host U.S.’s first opponent, secured qualification in September.
Orlando has been busy to kick off its offseason, with The Athletic previously reporting the club is finalizing deals for a pair of highly-rated young Brazilian talents via the U-22 initiative: Tiago from Bahia and Luis Otávio from Internacional.
Red Bulls sign Che
The Red Bulls have signed American defender Justin Che from Brøndby, sources briefed on the deal tell The Athletic.
Che, 22, is a graduate of Dallas’ academy and a former U.S. youth international. He has bounced around in recent years, including stints in Germany with the youth setups at Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim.
The versatile defender, who can play right back or right centerback, gives the Red Bulls – and new manager Michael Bradley – options in defense.
Che made 15 MLS appearances for Dallas before heading to Europe. He made 24 appearances for Hoffenheim’s second team.
It’s a busy winter for the Red Bulls, with The Athletic previously reporting the club is finalizing deals to send Peter Stroud to Minnesota United and Lewis Morgan to San Diego FC.
Bartlett asks D.C. to speak about future
D.C. United center back Lucas Bartlett is attracting interest on the trade market and has asked the club to discuss his future, sources briefed on the situation tell The Athletic.
Teams around MLS have called D.C. about a potential deal, as well as a club in Europe, sources say. Bartlett, 28, joined D.C. United ahead of the 2024 season and has been a key starter the last two years, making 67 appearances.
The aerially dominant center back spent time with FC Dallas and St. Louis City in his career as well.
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