Supporters and opponents of a ballot measure that would ban the hunting of bobcats and cougars in Colorado are arguing over the financial impact of the proposal after a conservative-leaning think tank released a study on the issue this week.

The Common Sense Institute predicted that the hunting rule change – if approved by voters in November – would cost Colorado Parks and Wildlife millions of dollars annually. But the group proposing the measure, Cats Aren’t Trophies, disputes that calculation.

“It’s really just pseudoscience,” said Samantha Miller, the group’s campaign manager.

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The Common Sense Institute report, based on 2023 data, claims that the state would lose about $410,000 and $15,000 annually in cougar and bobcat hunting licenses, respectively, which together account for less than 0.4 percent of the agency’s wildlife revenue.

The analysis also predicts an even greater loss of revenue if the cougar population increases due to a lack of hunting, which would ultimately lead to a decline in game populations such as elk and mule deer.

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“The dynamic impacts range from $3.6 million to $5.8 million – 9 to 14 times more – when taking into account the revenue lost from hunting permits for elk and big-eared deer due to the increase in the cougar population,” says the Common Sense Institute study, which refers to the projected annual impacts.

The authors arrived at this number by assuming that the mountain lions that were not hunted would kill at least one elk or deer per week, resulting in a loss of hunting licenses for those animals.

While the calculation regarding the decreasing number of hunting licenses for cougars and bobcats is correct, the second calculation is incorrect, says Erik Molvar, a wildlife biologist with the Western Watersheds Project and a proponent of Initiative 91.

“You can’t assume that there will be fewer mule deer and elk just because there are more mountain lions in the landscape,” Molvar said.

DJ Summers, an author of the Common Sense Institute report, said the organization believes the moose and deer killed will have an impact on populations of the entire species.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is prohibited from taking a position for or against the initiative and has declined to comment on the budget impact study, said Travis Duncan, a spokesman for the agency.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is a corporate agency, meaning it is funded almost entirely by fees, such as from hunting licenses, rather than taxes.

In 2023, nearly 30,000 elk and about 500 mountain lions were hunted. The mountain lion hunting season, for which an annual cap is set by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, occurs between November and March.

The initiative was approved for the November ballot earlier this month after supporters submitted enough signatures from registered voters to require a vote on the issue.

Initiative 91 states, in part: “The voters of Colorado find and declare that any trophy hunting of cougars, bobcats, or lynx is inhumane, serves no socially acceptable or ecologically beneficial purpose, and does not serve the public safety.”

If a majority of voters approve the measure, those who violate it would be guilty of a first-class misdemeanor and punishable by up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. They could also face a five-year suspension of their wildlife license.

The initiative provides for exceptions when the wild cats are killed to defend people, livestock or pets. Theft of animals and accidents, such as collisions between vehicles and animals, are also exempt from the regulation.

Opponents of the measure and initiative argue that managing populations and hunting permits should be left to Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists and wildlife experts.

The Common Sense Institute study was one of several studies the think tank planned to conduct on election issues in Colorado.

“We did this because we wanted to track the wolf introduction at the last vote,” said Summers, one of the study’s authors. “We just knew it would get a lot of people’s attention.”

Other items that were put to a vote concern property taxes and access to abortion.

Elliott Wenzler is the Western Slope politics reporter for the Craig Press and its sister publications in Glenwood Springs, Vail, Steamboat Springs, Craig, Summit County and Grand County. Reach her at [email protected].