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Colorado Trappers & Predator Hunters Association

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Even though attendance was down, the August Convention was a huge success. But considering the state of the fur market, the political landscape, the animal-rights attacks along with COVID and all of our other issues, general support and enthusiasm is pretty damn good.

First and foremost, kudos go out to the Herrman Family for what they did to pull together a convention and they were also recognized as a family for Workhorse of the Year. With them it is a team of horses.

Thanks to Joe Herrman for spending almost eight years as my Vice President and welcome to Chris Jurney who is now the new Vice President. Chris is already making plans to hold next year’s convention in Craig, Colorado, the heart of Colorado’s hunting and fishing, probably on August 12, 13 and 14, 2022. Mark your calendars and plan on taking a vacation to what Colorado used to be and what the Northwest still is. To contact Chris about the Convention or other issues he can be reached 970-620-1454. Chris is also a fur buyer and wildlife control operator, as well.

Welcome aboard to Christy Cressler from Dove Creek, Colorado, as your new Southwest Director. Christy is a taxidermist, a trapper and mother of two, and will be a great asset in helping to promote what we all stand for by helping to throw a broad net. She can be contacted at 970-739-6437.

Naomi Yates is the Northeast Director that was appointed this summer after longtime Board Member Gary Crawford decided to step down, while getting some new blood on board. Naomi is a houndswomen, a trapper, a hunter education instructor and is currently working in wildlife management at multiple levels, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. She resides in Bellvue, CO, and was re-elected to the position. I feel privileged to have both of these women to cover opposite ends of the state on our behalf. She can be contacted at 970-420-4250.

Keep in mind. Please reach out to any of the Board Members if you have questions, concerns and/or input.

Karen Gates was also re-elected as Secretary/Treasurer and our strong financial position was confirmed by our CPA firm, which allowed us to make a unanimous Board decision to contribute significantly to the Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management for the lobbying efforts that we share in at the Capitol, and have done so for the last three years.

Additionally, House District 57 Representative Perry Will was voted as the Trapper & Predator Hunter of the Year Recipient, and Mark Vierra, CPW Furbearer/Carnivore Manager, was voted Wildlife Professional of the Year Recipient.

Unless things change, we will once again be participating in the National Western Stock Show in January 2022, and we will also be having our Fur Auction February 9 and 10, 2022. Check in for the Fur Auction will be Saturday and Sunday February 5 and 6, with our Board and Membership Meetings, Sunday the 6th, 2022. For additional information for the Fur Auction please keep checking the website or call Greg Ashmore at 719-760-0539 or Otis Lantham at 970-812-7473.

On another note, our Annual Banquet will be held, barring any more COVID crap, in April 2022, in Grand Junction. We will always be looking for sponsors, vendors, etc. For more information to help or to participate, contact Kandy Herrman at 970-379-6024.

Furthermore, Raffle Manager Kacy Herrman/Townsend and Steve Barrington, our website guru, have been working diligently to streamline this years raffle process, in what is anticipated to be a mid-December drawing with broad-reaching Internet outreach and capabilities. There will still be hard tickets available, but with the help of the Colorado Chapter of Safari Club International, we are moving away from the old dial-up phone or a tin can and a string to modern technology and online sales. Tickets will be $20.00 each, three for $50.00 or seven for $100.00. There are eight guns and two other prizes. Keep in mind this is a fundraiser. We are not just selling to our members, and if everybody would work a little through their networks on a grand scale this could be a huge success. For more information after October 5, contact Kacy at 970-379-4680.

More thanks goes out to Miss Rodeo Colorado Hailey Fredricksen and Lady in Waiting Ashley Baller, for not only hanging out with us for the three days in August for the Convention, but also accompanying me to the Legislative Barbecue at the State Fair in August. And to Ashley for attending the Parks and Wildlife Commission Meeting with me in Meeker on September 1st. These gals are great ambassadors for our cause and we look forward to working with them in the future as they flaunt their fur coats that we donated to them.

Thanks also to all of the sponsors, the donors, the demo presenters and the vendors, along with all of the attendees that helped make this year’s Convention a success.

We continue to participate in the Legislative Caucus Meetings every month or so and I personally remain engaged as one of the 16 Wolf Stakeholder Advisers that meet monthly around the state for the next three years, as well as remaining on the Habitat Stamp Committee, the Wildlife Council, the Colorado Outdoor Partnership, the Furbearer Working Group, the Coloradans for