Committee backs bill to protect wild bison crossing into Colorado; tribes and conservationists urge safeguards

After extensive testimony from tribal leaders, conservation groups, hunters and local residents, the Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee voted 4‑3 Monday to advance Senate Bill 53 to the Committee on Appropriations with amendments that extend an effective date and clarify legislative findings.

Sponsor Senator Danielson told the committee the bill aims to protect wild bison that occasionally cross into Colorado from neighboring Utah. He and supportive witnesses said the animals are culturally important to Native American tribes, ecologically valuable and have occasionally been shot without regulation because under current Colorado law these transient animals are treated as livestock rather than wildlife.

Tribal leaders and Native advocates provided the committee with lengthy testimony about cultural and spiritual ties to bison. Ute and other tribal council members said their herds and tribal conservation programs maintain buffalo as family and ceremonial resources; Daisy Blue Star told senators, “They helped our ancestors survive so that we could be here today,” and several speakers asked the legislature to respect tribal consultations and to exclude tribally‑owned herds from any statutory change classifying unmanaged bison as wildlife.

Conservation organizations — including Defenders of Wildlife, Colorado Wildlife Federation, Western Watersheds Project and Sierra Club — urged the committee to treat wild, free‑ranging bison as wildlife so Colorado Parks and Wildlife could manage and protect them in concert with neighboring states. Scientists and nature groups cited genetic and ecological benefits of protecting wild herds and noted that several Western states manage wild bison as wildlife with hunting and formal herd plans.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said they support the concept but requested additional time and technical amendments so the agency can develop a robust herd management plan and associated regulations; CPW asked for an effective date later in 2026 to allow a public, science‑based management process and sought statute language to permit appropriate license fees and stiffer penalties for illegal take. Committee amendments adopted in the hearing extended the effective date to January 1, 2026 and added legislative findings reflecting cultural and ecological concerns; CPW asked for a further extension to May 2026 and additional technical fixes before full agency support.

The committee approved the bill as amended and sent it to the Committee on Appropriations by a 4‑3 vote. Sponsors and tribal leaders emphasized the measure is a first step in a broader process of consultation and management planning; local county and grazing stakeholders asked the committee to consider impacts to livestock and grazing systems as the process moves forward.

Senate Bill 53 now heads to the appropriations committee with a requirement that Colorado Parks and Wildlife coordinate a management planning process with tribes, federal land managers and local stakeholders.