Colorado could ban the sale of fur from beavers, foxes, bobcats and more — Here’s what to know

Colorado’s beavers, foxes, bobcats and roughly a dozen other furry critters may soon find their pelts officially off the market — at least within state lines.

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission is set to debate a potential ban on the commercial sale of furs at its July 16-17 meeting in Ignacio, with a final vote expected in September. The proposal stems from a citizen petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and applies to all 17 species the state classifies as “furbearers.”

Here’s the twist: The agency’s own staff doesn’t think a ban is necessary. Colorado Parks and Wildlife recommended denying the petition, writing that there was no “solid evidence that commercial fur sales drive harvest levels in Colorado.” Staff also noted that trapping methods were already narrowed significantly by a 1996 ballot measure, which they say acts as a natural cap on harvest numbers. The commission overrode that recommendation in March and pushed the proposal forward anyway.

The commission has three options on the table: do nothing, ban all “fur products” — meaning any pelt, hide or part of a furbearer hunted in Colorado — or take a narrower approach and ban only “raw pelts” that haven’t been tanned. Both ban options come with a catch, though. They’d only apply to sales within Colorado, so a legally trapped fox pelt could still be shipped across state lines and sold in, say, Wyoming without issue. The agency itself admits either version would be tough to enforce.

Meanwhile, the commission is also weighing the state’s first-ever daily bag limits on furbearers. Right now, a Colorado resident can hunt or trap an unlimited number of the animals after buying a permit for about $35. Staff are recommending a cap of 15 per day across all species, though some commissioners have pushed for species-specific limits as low as four. For context, the agency says most fur harvesters take only a few animals across an entire season, so the limits would likely affect just a small handful of hunters.

The debate arrives amid a broader national conversation about fur — Etsy recently pulled fur products from its marketplace — and adds to a growing list of wildlife controversies in Colorado, from wolf reintroduction to the failed Proposition 127 effort to ban mountain lion and bobcat hunting. The commission will take public comment during next week’s meeting.