During its July meetings, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission made decisions on two long-standing debates around its management of a group of mesocarnivores hunted for their fur. All 17 furbearer species can be hunted with the purchase of a $10 permit on top of a small game license in Colorado. _MG_2385CPW defends its scienceIn the discussions surrounding furbearer management, Parks and Wildlife has faced criticism from wildlife advocates that it lacks sufficient population data for some furbearer species to determine that hunting was not impacting populations. This, he said, is “instructive” because more bobcats are hunted than other furbearer species and live in lower densities than many of the others. “I can say that the actions of this agency, of CPW, follow very high standards and no wildlife population is ever put in jeopardy,” said Martin Lowney, former state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services in Colorado.