NEWS BRIEF
The Denver Gazette reports that Colorado Parks and Wildlife will require avocational beaver hunters to personally present harvested carcasses or pelts for physical inspection and sealing beginning next month. The agency says the requirement is intended to give wildlife managers more precise information about where beavers are harvested as Colorado implements its Beaver Conservation and Management Strategy.
The Gazette reported that about 1,300 beavers were harvested annually by avocational hunters from 2023 through 2025, compared with an estimated statewide dam-building beaver population of 43,000 to 64,000. The strategy addresses population monitoring, harvest management, restoration, human-beaver conflicts and translocation policies.
What to know
The new inspection and sealing requirement is intended to improve location data for harvested beavers. Colorado Parks and Wildlife is implementing a broader strategy that includes monitoring, restoration opportunities, harvest management and approaches to human-beaver conflicts.
Reporting: Spencer McKee · Denver Gazette · 09-24-2026
