DENVER — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill on Thursday morning to protect wild bison that move from neighboring states into Colorado, where they do not have protections and have been legally killed.
The bill is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
While most bison in Colorado either live in captive herds and are classified as livestock or are maintained in fenced-in areas for conservation efforts, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has observed wild bison moving from Utah into northwest Colorado. Those animals are not defined in Colorado statues anywhere. According to the National Wildlife Federation, small numbers of bison have moved in from the Book Cliffs in northeastern Utah — where they have specific protections as big game — and have been legally shot and killed once they cross state lines, as they have no protections under Colorado law.
Senate Bill 25-053, "Protect Wild Bison," classifies those bison as big game wildlife, and demands they be managed as such. This means that the bison who wander into Colorado are protected and cannot be legally shot and killed unless it is authorized by a hunting permit.
"When CPW manages big game wildlife, they attempt to maintain the health of the overall wildlife population while providing opportunities for hunters when appropriate," the bill's fiscal note reads. "Additionally, CPW compensates private landowners, ranchers and farmers for damage to property caused by big game wildlife."
SB 25-053 also edits the existing offense of unlawfully hunting or possessing certain wildlife to say that it is illegal to hunt wild bison.
The bill would increase state expenditures for CPW by $75,000 in fiscal year 2025-2026 and $25,000 in fiscal year 2026-2027. In the first year, $50,000 would cover the hiring of a consultant specialized in range management assessments "to provide a range status report on bison," the fiscal note reads.
CPW will use this information to determine how bison are using the range and conflicts with other wild and domestic species.
The additional $25,000 is expected to carry forward to support CPW's efforts to locate and classify bison via aerial surveys, and determine their overall health. This will require 10 hours of helicopter flight time, which costs about $2,200 per hour.
Sen. Jessie Danielson, a sponsor of the bill, posted online in March that "it’s our responsibility to protect these animals that play a key role in our state’s culture, history, and environment."
According to our partners at The Denver Post, the Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado opposed SB 25-053. The group says that these sorts of protections for bison could lead to the establishment of a wild herd in Colorado, which could impact the agricultural economy.
“In northwest Colorado, where grazing and agriculture are one of our few economic drivers, we feel that added species protection for bison puts additional stress on existing limited resources for local ranchers and CPW,” Richard Orf told The Denver Post on behalf of the association.
The bill was introduced in the Colorado Senate on Jan. 15 and passed onto the Colorado House of Representatives in mid-April. There, it passed in late April and was sent to the governor's desk for him to sign on May 6.
Gov. Polis is scheduled to sign the bill into law on Thursday at Genesee Park alongside Sen. Jessie Danielson and Reps. Junie Joseph and Elizabeth Velasco.
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