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.