Colorado’s last Parks and Wildlife director resigned to avoid termination after federal wildlife law violations. The replacement is a retired Army general with zero wildlife management experience. The Commission votes February 23.
Laura Clellan became acting CPW director December 1, 2025. She was named sole finalist for the permanent position February 9 after a search including 150 candidates.
Clellan spent 36 years as a Military Police Officer. Her biology degree is from 1989—37 years old. Her civilian career: Chief of Leadership and Employee Development at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an HR position. No wildlife management experience. No conservation biology background. No predator ecology expertise. No species recovery credentials. No habitat management training. No federal wildlife law knowledge.
CPW manages 42 state parks, 960 species, and 350 wildlife areas. The agency conducts species recovery programs, manages predator reintroduction, navigates federal wildlife law, and issues hunting and fishing licenses. The mission: perpetuate wildlife resources through biological expertise and conservation science.
Entry-level District Wildlife Manager Trainee positions require bachelor’s degrees in wildlife biology, wildlife management, or ecology plus four years relevant wildlife experience. Senior positions require seven to nine years wildlife experience and advanced degrees. The director position requires more biological expertise than entry-level positions, not less.
Reid DeWalt demonstrates what qualified looks like. Fish biology degree from Colorado State. District Wildlife Manager starting 1998. Eight years in the Colorado Springs district. Promoted to Area Wildlife Manager overseeing field operations in four counties. Served as Acting Chief of Hatcheries.
Brian Dreher earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in wildlife biology from Colorado State and Michigan State. Started as wildlife biologist in 2004. Senior wildlife biologist by 2007. Oversees the Terrestrial Section since 2019.
Every senior CPW leader holds wildlife-specific degrees and spent years in field positions before reaching leadership. Except the director.
Jeff Davis resigned November 22 “in lieu of termination” according to settlement documents obtained through open records requests. DNR refused to explain the termination reason. Davis kept his $186,470 salary in a manufactured Senior Policy Advisor position.
Federal violations precipitated his departure. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik sent a cease-and-desist letter October 10, 2025 ordering Governor Polis and Davis to stop obtaining wolves from British Columbia. USFWS controls interstate wildlife transfers under the Endangered Species Act. CPW released 15 British Columbia wolves in January 2025 despite federal authority requirements. Washington State refused to provide wolves in an 8-1 commission vote November 15, 2025. Colorado signed a $400,000 contract with British Columbia.
The wolf program Davis managed produced these results: 25 wolves brought to Colorado, 11 confirmed dead or killed. Livestock losses exceeded $600,000 in compensation across seven counties. Program costs reached five times the voter estimate from 2020. CPW failed to provide livestock deterrents before attacks occurred in 2024 and 2025.
Clellan defended the British Columbia sourcing in January 2026. She pushed back on federal violation claims. The cease-and-desist order proves otherwise. She inherits federal investigations, dead wolves, violated ranchers, and cost overruns with no wildlife expertise to fix them.
Supporters praised her leadership. Gaspar Perricone, former CPW commissioner, cited “steady hands” and “leadership.” Rob Edward, Rocky Mountain Wolf Project president, called her a “capable leader.” Neither mentioned wildlife management expertise. The governor’s office cited her “extensive management, organization, and military experience.”
This marks Polis’s second such appointment. Nicole Rosmarino became State Land Board director in June 2025. She had zero revenue generation experience. The State Land Board’s constitutional mandate is funding schools through land revenue. Rosmarino’s background: rewilding advocacy, conservation ideology, PhD in political science.
HCA documented Rosmarino’s performance in January 2026: D grade after seven months. Displaced a 10-year agricultural lessee despite superior stewardship scores. Authorized $683,000 in conservation spending based on speculative biodiversity markets that don’t exist. Denied a family mining operation generating documented revenue. Hired restoration ecologists instead of agricultural economists.
Rosmarino advanced rewilding ideology at an agency requiring revenue expertise. Clellan is the first woman and first openly LGBTQ person to lead Colorado National Guard.
Rural lawmakers warned seven months ago that Rosmarino’s appointment prioritized ideology over the State Land Board’s constitutional mission. The warnings proved accurate—D-grade performance, displaced stewards, speculative spending. CPW faces the same pattern.
Federal wildlife law violations and systematic mission failures require specialized expertise to correct. Colorado gets organizational management instead.
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