10/6/23 Bear put down after charging people, cub also dies in Colorado Springs*

Colorado Bear Coalitions overarching goal is to reduce human-bear conflict across the state.

One of the most important efforts that Colorado Bear Coalition is leading is the creation of an Independent Review Board.
As a law enforcement agency, CPW needs to have an accountability structure in place, which includes an independent review board that conducts a post-mortem of every bear handling by CPW. 

• Recommended changes to bear management, including an independent post-mortem review board, was submitted to the Governor in August. 

• CBC is working to have the Colorado Springs sow and cubs as the first incident to be reviewed. A CORA request has been made so that we have the CPW incident report.

• The goal is to have protocols continuously reviewed and updated and transparent to the public.  

Benefits of an Independent Review Board:

• Objectivity: The board’s independence from CPW will help maintain objectivity and reduce potential conflicts of interest.

• Transparency: Through understanding why actions are taken towards a bear, the public can form an educated opinion and pursue changes based on facts not speculation.

• Public Trust: Across the state, citizens are increasingly distrustful of CPW. Without an objective review of CPW’s handling of bears, this division will only increase, further hindering the public’s efforts to reduce human-bear conflict.  

• Continuous Improvement: A review board offers constructive feedback that can help refine current practices. This iterative process contributes to continuous improvement and the advancement of knowledge and acceptable practices.

• Community and Stakeholder Input The review boards will incorporate input from relevant stakeholders. This inclusion ensures that diverse perspectives are considered, making the outcomes more comprehensive and inclusive. This has potential for greater community efforts to take accountability on reducing attractants. 

• Systems Solution: All stakeholders, in addition to CPW, will be reviewed during the post-mortem. The board will review what led up to the event, including efforts made or not made in the local community. For example, despite some cities having bear resistant trash ordinances, if the ordinance is not enforced, the law is meaningless. All entities involved in keeping people safe and bears out of town need to be reviewed in order to assess what is working and where there are failures in the system.
  
  *Please note that the two Change.org petitions regarding this incident are not connected to Colorado Bear Coalition. We have no affiliation with either author of the petitions.