Colorado voters will decide on November 3 whether the right to hunt and fish belongs in their state constitution. Amendment 83 would create a constitutional right to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife by traditional methods, and it would name hunting and fishing as the preferred means of managing wildlife populations. The state keeps its authority to regulate for sound science, public safety, and future hunting opportunity. Endangered species, nongame species, and anything illegal to hunt under federal law are excluded. Because it amends the constitution, it needs 55% of the vote to pass. The measure lands in a state where hunters and anglers carry most of the conservation budget. Colorado Parks and Wildlife took in $225 million in wildlife revenue in fiscal 2023-24, and licenses, fees, and permits covered 64% of it. More than 1.7 million hunting and fishing licenses were sold in Colorado that year, and that license revenue funds most of the agency's wildlife work. It also comes two years after Colorado voted on banning the hunting of mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx. That measure failed by 11 points, and hunting advocates said at the time it never would have reached the ballot if the state constitution protected hunting. Keith Mark, founder and CEO of @HunterNation, makes his case on The Bully Pulpit this week. His argument rests on what hunters hand down: a dad teaching his daughter to shoot, a mentor taking a new hunter out for the first time, and the obligation that comes with every harvest to respect the animal, use what you take, and leave the land better for the next generation. Theodore Roosevelt built American conservation on the same idea, that the people who use a place well are the ones who look after it. Read Keith's piece below: