Colorado Outdoors - the Podcast for Colorado Parks and Wildlife

In April 2024, Colorado’s 2024-25 Long Appropriations Bill opened the door for a new Colorado Parks and Wildlife statewide K-9 program. The new statewide K-9 program will have a lead K-9 Supervisor and five K-9 handlers assigned to the new statewide unit. This comes on the heels of the success of CPW's previous pilot program in which CPW utilized three dogs.

K-9 officers aid CPW wildlife managers in detecting the presence o...

Colorado Parks and Wildlife recently concluded a 10-year monitoring of lynx in the Southwest Region of CPW. In this episode, learn more about how CPW monitors the elusive population of wildcats.

Wildlife Research Scientist Jake Ivan joins the show to talk about key findings from the 10 years of monitoring including issues related to habitat and coexistence with other wildlife species. Jake also dives into the origins of...

Earlier this year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife released a new coffee table book titled “At Home in Nature: A History of Colorado’s State Parks.” It’s truly a must-have for those interested in our state’s natural and cultural heritage.

Learn how this book went from a pre-COVID idea to a finished product in 2024 that is now available for sale at state park visitor centers and on cpwshop.com. Priced at $34.95, the book has bee...

Colorado’s first rifle season will open Oct. 12 this year, and hunters across the state are getting prepared and sighting in at local ranges to get perfectly in tune to take their shot this fall. With that in mind, it’s an excellent time to learn more about Colorado’s Nontoxic Bullet Replacement Hunting Program.

Following the 2023 passing of HB 23-1036, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has worked with several partners to demonst...

COTREX puts information about all of Colorado’s trails in your hands, thanks to a collaborative effort by land managers at every level.

More than 230 land managers have contributed to COTREX data to detail 45,076 miles of trail across Colorado. And because the information is all sourced directly from land managers, you can trust you are recreating responsibly whenever you start your journey using COTREX.

Best of all, COTREX ...

Summer is here, and the high-water season for recreational paddlers has reached Colorado’s iconic rivers. While Colorado manages 43 state parks, the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area is among the most unique in that it spans across a 152-mile corridor that follows the Arkansas River from the high mountains near Leadville to Lake Pueblo.

AHRA isn’t only a whitewater destination, though. It also boasts eight developed campg...

In this episode, recorded from the Partners in the Outdoors Conference at Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge, we hear from a few partner organizations in attendance and what the theme “We are Better Together,” means to them.

First, we talked with Partners Conference organizer Shalana Gray about the two-year effort to reimagine and rebuild the Partners Conference. We learned how sessions were developed and looked ahead to con...

In this episode, go behind the scenes with CPW staff from the capture team in Oregon and the release team back in Colorado as 10 gray wolves were translocated to the state in December 2023.

While the Colorado gray wolf reintroduction story could take up multiple podcasts, we narrowed our focus in this episode to take listeners behind the scenes and into the minds of our staff and give you their perspective on the capture pr...

On May 1, 2023, Jeff Davis was appointed to the position of Director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife by Governor Jared Polis. He came to CPW from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, where he had served since 2000 in various roles including most recently as Director of Conservation.

Jeff came to CPW with extensive experience working with leadership, legislators, Tribal Nations, the hunting and fishing community an...

Every year, bears attracted to human food sources damage property, vehicles and even homes. Bears don’t know they’re doing anything wrong. They’re just following their super-sensitive noses to the most calories they can find. Bears that find food around homes, campgrounds and communities often lose their natural wariness of people.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is charged with protecting and preserving the state’s wildlife. ...

Starting on Jan. 1, 2023, Colorado residents can get a $29 Keep Colorado Wild Pass during their annual vehicle registration through the Division of Motor Vehicles.

As Coloradans, we treasure our outdoor lifestyle and state’s beauty. This new state park pass gives all Coloradans an easy way to invest in Colorado’s outdoors, wildlife and local communities in a meaningful way. Your contribution shows you care about Colorad...

NoCo PLACES 2050 is a broader effort by eight agencies collaborating on ways to address the challenges of high visitation and a growing population in northern Colorado’s foothills and mountains. This collaboration is committed to sustainable solutions, equitable actions, and beneficial land management practices for the long-term conservation of public lands in Colorado and the quality of the visitor experience. Learn about...

No matter the season, Highline Lake State Park is a diverse and welcome retreat. Park Manager Alan Martinez joins us on this podcast to discuss the state park thta is an oasis in the desert. Connected to miles of trails and close to communities, the park makes an ideal base camp for exploring the Grand Junction area. Whether passing through on mountain bikes, or as an end destination, the park welcomes campers, anglers, fa...

Some terms naturally go together like "Colorado Parks and Wildlife" and "world-class fishing."

Few would ever add to that list the term “Superfund sites.”

That's because Colorado Parks and Wildlife's 42 parks are recreation meccas. Its 350 wildlife areas boast some of the finest wildlife and aquatic habitat in the state. And even in the United States.

But they weren’t always so pristine. In fact, CPW's aquatic bio...

Winter range is what provides those limited resources that wild animals such as deer, elk, pronghorn and sage grouse rely on to survive the harsh winter months. Ultimately it is the most limited habitat, so these animals are moving to winter range as part of their migration process because they are not able to survive in those higher elevations where the snow loads are deep and there is nothing for them to eat. Colorado Pa...

Eleven Mile State Park is an expansive high-altitude grassland region of central Colorado. It is a prime location for ice fishing and anglers and writers consistently tout Eleven Mile’s large reservoir for its outstanding fishing. In this podcast episode we learn about its history, unique species and fishery management outlook for one of the great angling opportunities in the state of Colorado. We'll talk with Bryan Johnso...