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Nellie Farrell and her children tend to cows on their ranch in Grand County. Eight of Farrell’s sheep have are confirmed to have been killed by wolves, and five are still missing.
Nellie Farrell and her children tend to cows on their ranch in Grand County. Eight of Farrell’s sheep have are confirmed to have been killed by wolves, and five are still missing.
The joint House and Senate agriculture and natural resources committees met with officials Wednesday from the Department of Natural Resources and Colorado Parks and Wildlife over their budget, legislative agenda and other issues.
But lawmakers also used their time to grill the officials, at times harshly, on the continued controversy over wolves.
Sunday, the same plane that brought Oregon wolves to Colorado in December 2023, operated by Lighthawk Conservation Flying, made the first of three trips from Prince George, British Columbia, to Colorado. The first flight landed at Eagle County Airport, with three vehicles from Colorado Parks and Wildlife there to meet the plane and offload its cargo.
The second flight was on Tuesday, from Prince George to Denver International Airport; as of Wednesday, the third flight is in progress.
Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Dan Gibbs told lawmakers that since the first release of wolves in December 2023, CPW has been “working hard to listen and to support local communities and agriculture producers.” That included an “after action” review to gather input on wolf releases, he said.
Gibbs told lawmakers that the division has worked to improve communication and transparency through its partnerships with the state and federal departments of agriculture and other agencies and has hosted “educational workshops” on the Western Slope. CPW has also worked to improve communications with local communities and elected officials about potential release locations.
The division, after a year of wolves killing livestock in Grand, Jackson and Routt counties, recently came up with a definition of “chronic depredation,” which applies to situations when wolves, like the mating pair known as Bonnie and Clyde, kill multiple livestock and how ranchers and CPW will lethally manage those animals.
“CPW will review the definition after the first calving and lambing season to ensure that it effectively modifying wolf livestock conflicts as they emerge,” Gibbs told the committees. “And if not, we’ll strategically be implementing lethal management in a timely manner.”
He also told the lawmakers that CPW is in the process of bringing wolves from British Columbia to Colorado and that CPW will have more information once that operation is completed.
Reid DeWalt, CPW’s assistant director for aquatic, terrestrial, and natural resources, told lawmakers that while the agency has tried to balance the safety of CPW staff and animals with the need for information, CPW staff are being “heavily threatened.” That includes CPW staff being followed, people staking out their offices, threats of violence on social media and through phone calls.” In addition, two wolves were shot last year, including Clyde, who died from that injury, according to a recent report from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
“I don’t think any CPW staff members should be threatened with violence because they’re doing their job,” DeWalt said.
Lawmakers, however, were loaded with questions and criticisms of how the program has been managed. Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, noted the CPW Commission’s decision last week to reject a petition submitted by 26 agricultural organizations with support from Colorado Counties, Inc. to pause the program. That petition came with a list of seven action items.
CPW pledged to implement those suggestions at the meeting, but Roberts said they should have been in place before the next group of wolves came to Colorado.
DeWalt’s comments highlighted that CPW may not be ready for the wolves already released this week. He said the range rider program, operated by the state department of agriculture, hopes to hire 12 range riders with four hired “immediately.” He said the agency is doing interviews this week and next, with a range rider training program scheduled for Jan. 30. A second, more in-depth training program will be held in April.
That’s well into calving season for cattle and lambs; most of the livestock killing in 2024 was during calving season.
The second action item is a “depredation response team.” That team of five hasn’t been hired yet, according to DeWalt’s comments, although he said the agency already has five other “damage specialists.”
Another action item is a site assessment team, which has been in place for other wildlife management since 2023, DeWalt explained. They had 61 requests for those assessments, with 42 now completed in Grand, Jackson, and Routt counties.
That led Roberts to ask if site assessments had been done or offered in Eagle, Pitkin, and Garfield counties, where the Canadian wolves are likely to be placed. DeWalt had no answer, pointing out they’d held meetings in those counties.
Ranchers have criticized the definition of chronic depredation as being too restrictive. Roberts asked if CPW would revisit it “and make it more realistic” based on what’s happening on the ground.
“We need to have this first year under our belt to see if the definition meets the demands that we see out there,” DeWalt said.
Roberts also asked about ranchers’ compensation issues. Last month, three Grand County ranchers submitted more than $581,000 in claims for lost livestock, low conception rates compared to previous years, and low sale weights compared to previous years. Those claims far exceed the money available, about $350,000 per year, and there are still more claims believed to be in progress.
“We are going to have a very difficult conversation if CPW reduces the amount that those producers have requested,” Roberts told DeWalt. And if the first batch of wolves from Oregon drove claims of $581,000, he asked what would happen when the state had those 15 Canadian wolves. That amount of money in the wolf compensation fund is not adequate, Roberts said.
DeWalt said livestock is not their area of expertise, and they’re working with Colorado State University to understand the claims. But “we do feel confident that even though the claims are so large, we will live up to our commitments and find other funding within our wolf money to pay for that.”
He didn’t address Roberts’ second point about the costs of 15 more wolves.
Rep. Meghan Lukens, D-Steamboat Springs, directly asked DeWalt about the status of the Canadian wolf operation. “When will these wolves be released and have the nearby ranchers been notified, based on wherever the wolves are being released, the closest ranches nearby?”
DeWalt responded that CPW will only discuss it when the operation is completed. After last year’s release, he claimed that people didn’t want to be notified every time wolves were brought in because “it seems like a poke in the eye” to those who oppose wolf introduction. “We’re trying to be respectful of that,” DeWalt said.
DeWalt said he believed nearby ranchers were notified, although, for landowners who live 60 miles away and want to be notified, that’s not going to happen. DeWalt said the releases are supposed to be in areas where there isn’t a lot of livestock.
However, ranches are within 50 miles of where the Canadian wolves were released this week, across the county line in Gunnison County. Sen. Marc Catlin, R-Montrose, noted that wolves can easily cover that much ground in a few days. DeWalt said they have held meetings with producers in Gunnison County, warning them wolves could be in their area “soon.”
Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, whose district includes Pitkin and Garfield counties, said she’s been disappointed in the lack of communication she’s gotten from CPW on the wolf issue. She said the same applies to Garfield County Commissioner Perry Will.
Velasco noted the difference in how her constituents view wolves; voters in Garfield County overwhelmingly voted against the 2020 ballot measure, while voters in Pitkin County vigorously voted for it. She was never invited to the multiple meetings CPW had in Garfield County, she said and got information from another lawmaker instead of CPW. Gibbs said he’s happy to set up more frequent meetings for her, depending on how much she wants to be involved.
House Speaker Julie McCluskie, whose district includes Grand and Jackson counties south of Chaffee County, criticized CPW more.
She first called for an end to the threats against CPW staff, stating that she found those threats disturbing. While she appreciated that CPW had learned lessons in the past year, she said, “The voices of producers must be elevated and recognized in these conversations.”
Dollars are now a part of that conversation, she said. “Our producers, our ranchers, our farmers are not responsible for the costs that the reintroduction of wolves has brought to this state,” McCluskie said.
Gov. Jared Polis blamed ranchers for not supporting the program during a meeting with county commissioners in December, which he said forced the state to spend more money to find wolves.
Producers have had to respond to changes in how they have operated for years if not decades or generations. And those changes have put tremendous pressure and pain into those communities, McCluskie told Gibbs and DeWalt.
“They are not to blame for the expenses of the state,” she said. And for producers, she said, it’s personal, it’s a family issue. “I would appreciate your thoughts and comments on the conversation that now exists with our Joint Budget Committee, the dollars that we have” and what the state will have to do to make sure these families and communities are supported.
Gibbs and DeWalt didn’t say a word in response.
Multiple sources have told Colorado Politics that Canadian wolves brought into Colorado on Sunday were released on McBride Ranch, also known a…
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