Bug buzz: Colorado lawmakers move to study insects, rare plant populations

Coloradans venturing into the backcountry in spring and summer might find themselves complaining of tick bites, mosquito swarms, and other creepy crawlers, but some say there’s something more terrifying than a spider in a sleeping bag: a future without enough insects. 

Studies conducted across the globe and in Colorado show there have been declines in the populations of invertebrates, which play vital roles in the food chain, pollination, and the decomposition cycle. That’s why a bipartisan group of Colorado lawmakers are proposing legislation that would allow the state to begin tracking insect populations. 

“These ecosystems that these invertebrates provide for are experiencing pressures and loss of biodiversity driven by climate change and habitat loss and other invasive species,” said Rep. Karen McCormick, D-Longmont, a prime sponsor of the bill. “We don’t have adequate data to know what’s happening in our state.”

House Bill 1117 — also sponsored by Rep. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican, and Sen. Janie Marchman, a Loveland Democrat — was approved by the House on third and final reading Monday. Next, it will be considered by the state Senate. 

If approved, it would allow Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to study and determine the conservation needs of invertebrates and native plants at risk of extinction in the state. They would also develop voluntary programs to help protect those species.  

Soper believes the bill could also help prevent unnecessary requirements from the federal government, which at times has created policies for a species it believes is endangered based on incomplete data, he said on the House floor. 

CPW officials would be able to decide how they want to go about the studies and would hire six people to help with the work. The program would cost about $1 million annually, according to a fiscal note on the legislation. Bill sponsors expect non-profit groups, many of which have already been conducting these studies, would help in conducting the surveys. 

While no groups have filed in opposition to the bill and there was limited debate on the measure, several Republicans voted against the bill Monday.

Republican minority leader Rep. Ty Winter of Trinidad voted against the bill in its earlier committee hearing as well. 

“I haven’t been here very long, but I have seen data come through this building that has been taken by activist groups later on to push an agenda,” he said in the hearing. “That is what my biggest fear with this is.”

Elliott Wenzler is the Western Slope politics reporter for The Aspen Times and its sister publications in Glenwood Springs, Vail, Steamboat Springs, Summit County, and Grand County.