DENVER Rep. J. Paul Browns bill to expand the bear hunting season survived a brush with death Wednesday morning in the state House.
Brown, R-Ignacio, lost votes from two fellow Republicans for his House Bill 1294. But he picked up two Democratic votes to give him a 33-32 win.
His bill still needs to pass a final House vote before it can go to the Senate.
Brown originally intended the bill to repeal part of a voter-approved law that banned bear hunting between March 1 and Sept. 1. He scaled it back Wednesday to allow the Colorado Division of Wildlife to permit bear hunting in June, July and August, but not the spring.
This has never been about a spring bear hunt, Brown said. What this is about is giving authority to the DOW to manage bear.
Brown said the black bear population is increasing and creating human safety issues.
Brown is a sheep rancher and told the House Agriculture Committee last month that he was threatened by a bear that had killed dozens of his animals. He killed the bear.
Opponents mostly Democrats said the Legislature should not overturn a voter-approved law, even if it is not part of the state constitution.
Voters in 1992 approved the ban on spring and summer bear hunting on a 70 percent to 30 percent margin. La Plata and San Juan county voters supported the initiative 61 percent to 39 percent. Voters in Montezuma and Archuleta counties rejected it narrowly.
Passing this bill tells the people of Colorado that we dont trust them to make good decisions, and that we know best as a Legislature we know better than they do, said Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins.
Voters also banned the use of bait and dogs to hunt bears, and forbade the killing of mothers with cubs. Browns bill does not change those parts of the law.
It has never been about killing a mama bear. And it has never been about hunting with dogs or using bait, Brown said.
In a hearing last month, DOW officials said they were staying neutral on the bill, but if it passes, they might allow a slight expansion of the hunting season in August.
Brown and his supporters fought off an amendment that would have referred the question to the voters in 2012.
Reach Joe Hanel joeh@cortezjournal.com.