03/26/2026
Outfitters…. Colorado’s index species.
Outfitters have deep roots and a long tradition passed down in Colorado history that goes back to a time when packing and guiding people safely through Colorado’s vast backcountry, on the back of horses and mules, was essential to natives and settlers alike.
Today, outfitters are mostly known for hunting and horseback rides, but they serve a much broader role in our public lands. For the US Forest Service, permitted outfitters provide a public service that they don’t have the resources to provide. In the Summer months, you’ll find Outfitters helping the Forest Service by packing gear and equipment into the back country to support trail crews. Outfitters also repair and maintain sections of trail systems for everyone to use.
Outfitters support crews fighting fires by packing equipment and gear to remote fire locations. Outfitters are also known for helping local search and rescue groups by providing horses and guides, helping injured folks and saving lives. Outfitters also support scientists and researchers doing environmental research and wildlife studies with guides, navigation, and packing services.
Outfitters are a unique and hardy group who lead an outdoor life of love for wildlife and the environment. Why are they the canary in the coal mine, the index species? Because Colorado’s development and exploitation of natural resources is destroying the very thing outfitters are trying to save, the environment and their way of life.
Since 2010, Colorado’s population has exploded by another 1,000,000 people! The west slope mountain towns have taken over the very best habitat at the headwaters of Colorado’s most precious valleys. It’s estimated that Colorado is losing 690 acres of open space every single day!! How do we coexist with wildlife on this unstainable path?
Where outfitters once traveled with their pack trains. Where the elk, deer and bison once roamed, where the wolves thrived, now many of these wild lands are gone forever. Without the wild lands, the wildlife is doomed, their sacred homes lost forever.
That’s when outfitters will be gone.