AS APPROVED VERSION – 05/04/2006
Basis and Purpose
Chapter 9 - Division Properties

Basis and Purpose Statement:

State Wildlife Areas:
In 2004, it was clarified that paintball shooting, “questing” and other non-wildlife related activities were not allowed on State Wildlife Areas.  The intent was to disallow these practices in their entirety, whether they be on an individual or group basis.  In order to further clarify this provision, the word “group” has been removed from this prohibition to more soundly express the intent of the original regulation.

In 2005 a definition for “float tubes” was added to Chapter 1 of these regulations in an effort to define what does and what does not constitute a float tube in the opinion of the Division.  In coordination with the addition of that definition, other common terms for float tubes, such as “belly boats” have been deleted from Chapter 9, and all references to such devices read float tubes in order to correspond with the Chapter 1 definition.  In addition, clarifications have been made on those bodies of water where other types of watercraft are allowed.  These changes are not substantive in nature, but are intended solely to clarify existing regulations.

DeWeese Reservoir State Wildlife Area
A prohibition on OHV use has been placed on Lake DeWeese State Wildlife Area.  The property is a relatively small wildlife area (1280 acres) and the main public use is fishing on the reservoir and overnight camping on its shores.  DeWeese is surrounded by private land and does not adjoin any public land with trails.  The property sees significant year-round use with heaviest use from Memorial Day to Labor Day with holiday weekends bringing several thousand users.  Many users bring off-highway vehicles (OHVs) for recreation purposes, which in this small area creates significant disturbance for other users from noise and dust and adds to resource damage, including soil erosion within closed areas and bird nesting areas at the upper end of the lake.   The Division has determined that OHV use presents no benefit to wildlife-related recreation on the property and angling/camping recreation is negatively affected by the noise, speed and nuisance activities of the drivers, and has therefore closed the property to OHV use.

Echo Canyon Reservoir State Wildlife Area
Boating and snowmobile restrictions have been placed on Echo Canyon Reservoir.  The property is a small impoundment that has historically allowed boats of all sizes.  Users of smaller vessels such as canoes, kayaks, and float tubes have expressed safety concerns regarding the operation of larger powerboats on the water that have nearly swamped them.  A wakeless restriction has been enacted to allow fishing from boats of all sizes without endangering the smaller craft and to minimize conflicts with bank fishermen.  In addition, snowmobile use on the property has increased to the degree that ice fisherman have expressed safety concerns about their use on the lake.  Echo Reservoir is a small lake that does not require the use of snowmobiles as an aid to ice fishing; therefore, a prohibition on snowmobile use has been enacted on the property.  These restrictions have been placed in order to assist the Division in providing quality wildlife-related recreation in a safe manner on Division-owned and managed properties.

Gypsum Ponds State Wildlife Area
Restrictions have been placed on Gypsum Ponds State Wildlife Area that close the property between sunset and sunrise to all users except those in the act of hunting or fishing, prohibit all glass containers, prohibit dogs on the eastern ponds except when being used for waterfowl hunting, and clarify authorization of field trials. 
Gypsum Ponds State Wildlife Area (GPSWA) is located in Eagle County south of I-70 and east of the Town of Gypsum.  Due to its visibility and proximity to town, non wildlife users have increased dramatically in the past few years.  Frequent parties with broken beer bottles and trash left on the ground are weekly events.  There has been drug paraphernalia found on the property and in September 2005, a nearly fatal nighttime shooting occurred on the property.  In addition, the area is open to leashed dogs except between March 15- June 15 for nesting waterfowl protection.  Once again, due to its proximity to town, the area has developed into a highly used and popular dog running area.  In 2002, new ponds were developed on the east end of the property, and due to the isolation and difficulty accessing these ponds, they are desirable to wildlife.  Dogs have been restricted in this area to maximize its wildlife value.  Finally, the time period that dog trials may be authorized has been placed to reduce impacts to wildlife and other property users.  

Horse Thief Canyon State Wildlife Area
Horse Thief Canyon State Wildlife area has been exempted from the Habitat Stamp requirement.  The property is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and is managed by the Division.  The area was established for mitigation by the BOR regarding salinity in the Grand Valley.  As an additional public benefit the Division manages the property for hunting, fishing access and habitat enhancement.  Generally, most access to the property is by the hunting public and most often it is for waterfowl hunting access.  Some use is observed by citizens who walk in the area, and bird watching in the area is a fairly common activity.   The Division has recently funded personnel to assist with operations at the area.  The contract between BOR and the Division includes language that could be interpreted as requiring that funds generated on the property be returned to an interest-bearing account held by the state.  This account (generally known as the revenue account) has been used in the past when revenues from the sale of agricultural products have been obtained as well as when surplus equipment has been liquidated.  No money from license sales has been returned to the BOR for access by the hunting and fishing public to Horsethief Canyon SWA.  Additionally, the Horsethief area provides access to BLM lands within the vicinity.  BOR Personnel are concerned that requiring a Habitat stamp to access the area would restrict those accessing BLM lands as the areas share a common parking lot.  Generally, the Habitat Stamp is intended to be required to access any State Wildlife Area as defined in statute.  However, property-specific exemptions have been established when existing contractual relationships restrict or prohibit the Habitat Stamp requirement.  As Horse Thief Canyon is jointly managed by BOR and the Division and contractual issues appear to restrict the Habitat Stamp requirement, an exemption has been granted for this property.

Queens State Wildlife Area
On USGS topographic maps Upper and Lower Queens Reservoirs are labeled “Neeskah”.  This is confusing to some publics who reference topographic maps which don’t say “Upper and Lower Queens”.  Using the name Neeskah is consistent with the other Great Plains Reservoirs (NeeNoshe, NeeGronda, and NeeSoPah).  In order to avoid public confusion and preclude inadvertent violations, the term “Neeskah” has been applied to both Upper and Lower Queens Reservoirs.

Ramah State Wildlife Area
In 2004 an archery shooting range was developed at Ramah State Wildlife Area by the Colorado Division of Wildlife.  Although this is an established shooting range, the existing regulation did not allow for the discharge of bows outside of the act of hunting on Ramah State Wildlife Area.  The purpose of this regulation change is to officially allow the public to utilize the range for its intended use of target shooting. 

Wheeler State Wildlife Area
Wheeler State Wildlife Area is an area held in fee title by the Division.  However, it was not listed in the table of State Wildlife Areas subject to regulation under WCR #900, which places general regulations on all State Wildlife Areas.  As a clean-up effort, this State Wildlife Area has been added to Appendix B.

Williams Creek Reservoir State Wildlife Area
Camping, boating and snowmobile restrictions have been placed on Williams Creek Reservoir State Wildlife Area.  The U.S. Forest Service maintains four campgrounds in the area, is building a fifth, and is planning on prohibiting dispersed camping in the Williams Creek Reservoir area to protect heavily impacted areas and to allow for reclamation of meadows in the area.  Prohibiting camping and open fires on the State Wildlife Area will protect it from damage from displaced campers.  

The property is a large impoundment that has historically allowed boats of all sizes.  Users of smaller vessels such as canoes, kayaks, and float tubes have expressed safety concerns regarding the operation of larger powerboats on the water that have nearly swamped them.  A wakeless restriction has been enacted to allow fishing from boats of all sizes without endangering the smaller craft and to minimize conflicts with bank fishermen.  In addition, snowmobile use on the property has increased to the degree that ice fisherman have expressed safety concerns about their use on the lake.  Williams Creek Reservoir is large enough to require the use of snowmobiles as an aid to ice fishing; therefore, a restriction on snowmobile use has been enacted on the property, allowing the use of snowmobiles only as an aid in fishing.  These restrictions have been placed in order to assist the Division in providing quality wildlife-related recreation in a safe manner on Division-owned and managed properties.

State Trust Lands:
Agate Mountain, Nee So Pah and Steven’s Gulch State Trust Lands are three new properties that have been added to the Division’s access program.  Access is restricted to foot and horseback only on Agate Mountain and Steven’s Gulch and to foot only on Nee So Pah as per the access agreements on those properties.

Morapos Creek State Trust Land
Morapos Creek was erroneously listed in the regulations as being in Routt County.  The county has been changed to Moffat County to reflect its correct location.

The statutory authority for these regulations can be found in § 24-4-103, C.R.S., and the state Wildlife Act, §§ 33-1-101 to 33-6-209, C.R.S., specifically including, but not limited to: §§ 33-1-101, 102, 104, 105, 106-108, 115, and 121; §§ 33-2-104, 105, 106, and 107; § 33-3-104; §§ 33-4-101, 102, 102.5, 103, 116, 116.5, 117, and 119; § 33-5.5-102; and §§ 33-6-107, 109, 112, 113, 113.5, 114, 114.5, 117, 119, 120, 121, 124, 127, 128, 129, 131, 205, 206, 207, and 208. 

EFFECTIVE DATE - THESE REGULATIONS SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2006 AND SHALL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT UNTIL REPEALED, AMENDED, OR SUPERSEDED.

APPROVED AND ADOPTED BY THE WILDLIFE COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO THIS 4TH DAY OF MAY, 2006.

APPROVED:
Jeffrey A. Crawford
Chairman

ATTEST:
Claire O’Neal
Secretary