DENVER— The Center for Biological Diversity today urged Colorado officials to move quickly to halt the sale of furs from native animals. The call comes ahead of a planned annual fur auction on Feb. 4 and 5 in Hugo, Colorado.

Thousands of pelts from native wild animals that Colorado labels as “furbearers,” including pine martens and ecosystem engineers like beavers, have typically been sold to the highest bidder at this annual auction.

The Center is urging Colorado Parks and Wildlife to end the commercial sale of pelts from the state’s wild animals through a formal rulemaking petition now pending before the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission.

“Beavers are natural engineers who help keep us safe from wildfires, and Colorado should protect them instead of letting trappers auction off their pelts for a quick buck,” said Samantha Miller, a senior carnivore campaigner at the Center. “Colorado officials should end commercial fur markets and manage our native wildlife with science in mind, not the highest bidder.”

In contrast to the protections given to many other wildlife species, Colorado currently allows the for-profit sale of fur from all species classified as furbearers, which can be trapped, killed and sold in unlimited numbers. This includes beavers, ringtails, red foxes, pine martens, and bobcats, as well as swift foxes, which are an imperiled species of special concern in the state.

“It’s time for Colorado to close the book on commercial wildlife markets,” said Miller. “Auctioning off piles of pelts from native animals is a relic of an era that drove iconic species like beavers and bison to the brink of extinction. Our state needs to modernize wildlife management to confront today’s biodiversity crisis.”

The Center’s petition would prohibit the commercial sale of pelts and other parts from wild Colorado furbearers, helping ensure the commission can manage these species based on sound science without the pressures of commercial markets. The petition also aligns state policy with a core principle of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation: that wildlife should not be managed as a commercial commodity.

The petition includes exemptions for cultural and recreational use. Finished products crafted with wildlife fur could still be sold. It would not affect sales of factory farmed fur sold through department stores and other retail outlets. It applies only to wildlife living in Colorado that are killed in the wild for their fur under a $36 furbearer license or a $10 add-on to a small game license. These licenses are currently sold in unlimited quantities in Colorado.

In March, Colorado Parks and Wildlife will review the Center’s petition and recommend a course of action to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, which is the ultimate decision maker on citizen rulemaking petitions.