2016 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 33 - Parks and Wildlife
Wildlife
Article 1 - Wildlife - General Provisions
§ 33-1-105. Powers of commission

(1) The commission has power to:

(a) (I) Acquire by gift, transfer, devise, lease, purchase, or long-term operating agreement such land and water, or interest in land and water, as in the judgment of the commission may be necessary, suitable, or proper for wildlife purposes or for the preservation or conservation of wildlife. The term "interest in land and water", as used in this section, means any and all rights and interests in land, including but not limited to fee title interests, future interests, easements, covenants, and contractual rights. Every such interest in land and water held by the commission when properly recorded shall run with the land or water to which it pertains for the benefit of the citizens of this state and may be protected and enforced by the commission in the district court of the county in which the land or water, or any portion thereof, is located. Game cash funds shall not be expended for water development projects except in those projects specifically authorized by the commission. Whenever the commission purchases any fee title interest in land or water as authorized by this section, it shall follow the procedures established in section 33-1-105.5.

(II) Repealed.

(b) Lease, exchange, or sell any property, water, land, or interest in land or water, including oil, gas, and other organic and inorganic substances which now are or may become surplus or which, in the proper management of the division, the commission desires to lease, exchange, or sell in accordance with the joint rule number 34 of the senate and house of representatives. All sales of property, water, or lands shall be at public sale, and the commission has the right to reject any or all bids. As used in this paragraph (b), "exchange" means the transferring of property, water, land, or interest in land or water to another person in consideration for the transfer to the commission of other property, water, land, or interest in land or water, or cash, or any combination thereof; except that any cash received may not exceed fifty percent of the total value of the consideration. A transaction otherwise qualifying as an exchange shall not be deemed a sale merely because dollar values have been assigned to any property, water, land, or interest in land or water, for the purpose of ensuring that the commission will receive adequate compensation.

(c) Construct or otherwise establish public facilities and conveniences at any site or on any land in which the commission holds an interest and operate and maintain all such lands, facilities, and conveniences and provide services with respect thereto, and, when appropriate, make reasonable fees or charges for their use or enter into contracts for their maintenance or operation;

(d) Capture, provide for propagation of, transport, buy, sell, or exchange any species of wildlife needed for the purpose of stocking any of the lands or waters of this state;

(e) Enter into cooperative agreements with state and other agencies, educational institutions, municipalities, political subdivisions, corporations, clubs, landowners, associations, and individuals for the development and promotion of wildlife programs;

(f) (I) Receive and expend:

(A) Grants, gifts, and bequests, including federal moneys, made available for the purposes for which the commission is authorized; and

(B) Moneys made available to the division for the purpose of mitigating or offsetting adverse impacts of development on wildlife or wildlife habitat.

(II) The commission may provide matching funds when appropriate moneys are available. The commission shall provide such information as may be required in order to secure matching funds. The receipt and expenditure of money so received by the commission shall be reported to the executive director prior to the time of submission of the commission's annual budget requests.

(g) Enter into agreements with landowners for public hunting and fishing areas. Such agreements shall be negotiated by the commission or its authorized agent and shall provide that, if the landowner opens the land under his control to public hunting and fishing, the commission shall compensate him in an amount to be determined by the parties to the agreement. Under the agreement, the commission shall control public access to the land to prevent undue damage and to properly manage attendant wildlife populations. The commission shall not be liable for damages caused by the public other than those specified in the agreement. Nothing in section 33-4-103 limits the authority of the commission both to enter into an agreement and to include the issuance of a hunting license in the agreement. Nothing in section 33-3-103.5 limits the authority of the commission to negotiate the waiver of game damage eligibility in an agreement.

(h) Provide for the destruction of any wildlife that poses a threat to public health, safety, or welfare;

(i) (I) Purchase, without using the bid process required by section 33-1-105.5, no more than two thousand acres of real property in Mesa county to build a multi-use shooting facility using moneys received from:

(A) Appropriated funds or nonappropriated grant moneys; or

(B) The federal government.

(II) The commission may contract with an independent contractor to build or operate the multi-use shooting facility authorized by this paragraph (i).

(III) The authority to purchase land under subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (i) expires on July 1, 2020, but this expiration does not affect the authority to build and operate or to contract to build and operate the multi-use shooting facility.

(2) Nothing in articles 1 to 6 of this title shall be construed as authorizing the commission to change any penalty prescribed by law for the violation of the provisions of articles 1 to 6 of this title or to change the amount of any license fee established by statute.

(3) (a) In the event that the commission plans to acquire the fee title to any real property or to acquire an easement for a period to exceed twenty-five years or at a cost to exceed one hundred thousand dollars or to enter into any lease agreement for the use of real property for a period to exceed twenty-five years or at a cost to exceed one hundred thousand dollars, or to sell or otherwise dispose of the fee title to any real property that has a market value in excess of one hundred thousand dollars, after the commission has approved the transaction but before it has completed the transaction, the commission shall submit a report to the capital development committee that outlines the anticipated use of the real property, the maintenance costs related to the property, the current value of the property, any conditions or limitations that may restrict the use of the property, and, in the event real property is acquired, the potential liability to the state that will result from the acquisition. The capital development committee shall review the reports submitted by the commission and make recommendations to the commission concerning the proposed land transaction within thirty days from the day on which the report is received. The commission shall not complete the transaction without considering the recommendations of the capital development committee, if the recommendations are made in a timely manner.

(b) Repealed.