craigdailypress.com

Dear Editor,

I wanted to briefly follow up on the story about the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the Craig Chamber Visitors Center, titled "DOW Won't Give Funds" in the Jan. 23 Daily Press.

For clarifications sake, let me say that it is more accurate to say, "DOW MIGHT give MORE funds."

As the story indicates, our regional funding is not sufficient to handle the request to triple our annual contribution from $5,000 to $15,000. However, because we understand the tremendous value that the Sportsmen's Information Specialist provides at the center, the DOW is preparing a special budget request to try to obtain additional funding from our statewide budget.

As I expressed at the meeting with Chamber officials, I cannot guarantee that the budget request will be approved, but we are going to ask.

Additionally, I should point out that, contrary to the story, the DOW budget has not been reduced by 25 percent by the state Legislature. What I indicated at the meeting was that the DOW regional budget (the one I control) has been reduced by 25 percent in recent years by the DOW state budget process.

I am pleased that the Craig Daily Press was able to attend the meeting between the Chamber and the DOW. We know that this is an important issue for the community.

Unfortunately, recent stories have painted the relationship between the Chamber and the DOW in a much more adversarial light than is the case. We're working together to search for solutions, and the DOW and the Chamber understand the importance of the information position.

Sincerely,

Ron D. Velarde

Regional Manager, DOW