Just found out The Colorado Parks and Wildlife is refunding licenses in various areas including mine. (Unit 28)
Here's the link.
https://gdoc.pub/doc/e/2PACX-1vT893...0GvpHMNXwV9_fUu1nUOoTBMqf37QQbivsVPH_Z-hRefunds Offered to Hunters Affected by Major Colorado Wildfires
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is providing flexibility to hunters who are directly impacted by the large wildfires burning in Colorado. Currently, several fires are creating direct and indirect issues on public lands:
Cameron Peak Fire - this fire is burning on more than 205,000 acres in Larimer County. The fire is restricting significant public access to public lands in Game Management Units (GMU) 6, 7, 8, 9, 19, 20, 191 and S1 and S40.
Calwood Fire - this fire is burning 9,300-plus acres in Boulder County and evacuation orders prohibit public land access in portions of Game Management Unit 20. The Forest Service closure starts at the Cameron Peak Fire Closure area and runs south to Highway 119 and from the Forest boundary on the east to the Peak to Peak highway on the west.
Lefthand Canyon Fire - this fire is burning 470 acres in Boulder County and evacuation orders prohibit public land access in portions of GMU 20 and the northern border of GMU 29.
East Troublesome Fire - Now at more than 12,000+ acres, this fast moving fire has led to increasing closures and evacuations in the area north of Hot Sulphur Springs and east toward Lake Granby. Hunters in GMU 18 should see refund info below.
Williams Fork Fire - this 14,000+ acre fire is burning east of Green Mountain Reservoir in remote terrain south of Hot Sulphur Springs and north of Silverthorne. The fire is burning in game management unit 28.
East Fork Fire - this fire has affected 1,682 acres southeast of Trinidad. The fire is restricting access in game management unit 140 (Lake Dorothey State Wildlife Area and parts of the James M. John State Wildlife Area). Lake Dorothey SWA is closed to all hunting until further notice. James M. John SWA will be closed through the end of September.
Pine Gulch Fire - Burned more than 139,000 acres in game management units 30 and 31 in Mesa and Garfield counties, north of the community of Grand Junction. Contained but closures exist in burned areas.
Grizzly Creek Fire - burned in Glenwood Canyon east of Glenwood Springs in Garfield County. This 32,000+ acre fire may continue to impact travel on I-70 and access roads into game management unit 34 (some access could be impacted into GMUs 24 and 25). Though mostly contained, mud and rock slides could occur with rain or snow.
Hunters holding licenses in game management units impacted by the fires may be able to request a refund and reinstatement of preference points (+1) used to draw the license.
Not all licenses are eligible for a refund. Some licenses allow hunters to hunt in multiple units so a refund is not the only option. For example, hunters holding an elk tag for game management unit 31 are likely to have access to other game management units (21, 22, 30, and 32). Hunters who have licenses valid in multiple units would be wise to consider those other units as animals leaving the fire zones will move into the adjacent units and may create enhanced hunting opportunities.
“Colorado has more than 23 million acres of public land and the fires are on a small portion of that land,” explained JT Romatzke, Regional Manager for CPW in northwest Colorado. “We are trying to provide flexibility for hunters while also letting them know that the wildlife is still out there. If a hunter has a license that allows them to hunt in multiple units, those licenses are not currently eligible for this more lenient refund policy.”
