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THE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
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Colorado Public Education Advisory Council (PEAC)
The Public Education Advisory Council has made some significant gains in 2005 that will bloom in 2006. First and foremost we succeeded in getting legislation passed that creates permanent financing for our upcoming comprehensive public education program. The Colorado legislature passed legislation creating a $.75 surcharge on most all hunting and fishing licenses in the Spring of 2005. This money will begin to be assessed on licenses starting January 1st, 2006. Sportsmen will have those dollars invested directly into PEAC’s public education program that will formally kick off July 1, 2006. PEAC must wait until July before it can receive budgeted 2006/2007 fiscal year spending funds. The funds cannot be used for other purposes. Our media based program will be in place and sportsmen and the public can expect to see and hear pro-active hunting, fishing and wildlife management messages on radio and television, as well as print media. The program has been scientifically designed and tested to ensure that these messages reach specific audiences. Audiences that we believe will be receptive to understanding more about wildlife issues and hunting and fishing. Audiences that we believe are interested in understanding why we hunt and fish and why hunting and fishing is so valuable to traditional wildlife management. The Colorado front range urban public is heavily targeted because they as a population have the least understanding of these issues. If we want their support in the future to ensure that hunting and fishing in Colorado continues, we must make sure that they understand who we are and the values of what we do! PEAC’s second most important agenda item in 2005 was the creation of a permanent stand alone web site. www.wildlife-management-education.org This site was created to provide a comprehensive platform where interested persons could learn more about PEAC and what we are doing. Any visitor to the web site can find our enabling legislation, review the first pilot studies were conducted and see some of the educational spots that were created. Investigation will provide the viewer with a flavor of what the Colorado public will begin being exposed to after July 2006. PEAC is attempting to be a role model for other states wishing to pursue similar pro-active strategies for hunting, fishing and wildlife management. The third most important thing PEAC accomplished was to complete a new research effort. This baseline research collected data from the urban public up and down the front range. 900 telephone surveys were conduct by Blakely & Co., a professional research group. The data collected will help PEAC ensure that our messages are correct and delivered using the right media channels to generate the best educational exposure for our invested dollars. PEAC received additional financial support of $50,000 from the Colorado Wildlife Commission to help conduct this study. Without the help of the CWC in 2005 PEAC would have had to postpone this research until July 2006. That would have significantly delayed the launch of the formal educational program. Results from this study will be published on the web site in early Spring 2006. PEAC Board Members met on December 16, 2005 at the DOW in Denver to discuss current issues and make plans for 2006. PEAC decided among other things to initiate a simple, to the point, color brochure explaining PEAC’s Mission and programs. The brochure will be distributed by the CDOW and license agents to sportsmen and the interested public. The brochure will only be an overview designed to steer readers to the web site for comprehensive information and data about the PEAC. Additionally PEAC has prepared a summary of income and expenditures outlining its revenue and expenses from its inception in 1998 until December 31, 2005 . We believe that it is important to continue to provide clear and transparent data about our activities and efforts. Hunters and anglers need to be aware of how we are spending their donated monies and surcharge funds and the public needs to be aware of our efforts to continue to promote healthy wildlife and habitat, traditional wildlife management and Colorado’s rich heritage of hunting and fishing recreation.
Prepared by: Bob Radocy, PEAC Chairman
For further information, please contact Jeff Butler, (303) 291-7429.
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