By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics
The state wolf compensation fund, set at $350,000 by statute last year, saw claims from 2024 that are approaching double that amount.
Data obtained through an open records request to Colorado Parks and Wildlife showed that the agency paid out $425,478.61 in claims.
But the information provided by the agency appears to exclude claims that were denied, recent claims paid and claims still awaiting final payments or settlements.
Based on information independently verified by Colorado Politics, the total amount of claims stood at at least $649,765.90, with a dozen claims still showing as pending on CPW’s wolf depredation website.
Two ranchers in Grand County settled for lesser amounts, which are not reflected in the data obtained from the state. Additionally, three claims listed were entirely redacted, citing changes in the state’s open records law, including amounts or details about the animals involved.
That is not covered under the changes lawmakers approved in Senate Bill 25-038, which allowed for redaction of a claimant’s personal and business information.
SB 38 specifically stated that the law would not prohibit the disclosure of non-identifying information, including the number or dollar amounts of claims, claims made to the division that were settled, and the monetary amounts of those settlements, pending settlements, or denials of claims, along with the reasons for those denials.
Costs exceeding the fund’s $350,000 can be covered by the state’s Species Conservation Trust Fund, which receives $5 million annually. Additionally, the Colorado Nongame Conservation and Wildlife Restoration Cash Fund is funded by a tax-deductible contribution through state income tax returns and other unidentified sources within the Colorado Parks and Wildlife organization. The nongame fund has generally received less than $200,000 in contributions per year.
Claims paid were for 15 cattle and nine sheep killed by wolves and 21 missing cattle presumed taken by wolves, all coming from Grand, Jackson and Routt counties, and a llama killed by a wolf in Elbert County.
A second part of the claims process allows ranchers to submit the costs that wolves have caused to livestock, including reduced birth rates and market weights, as well as the impact of wolf activity on nearly 1,800 cows on the two Grand County ranches.
Conway Farrell, one of the Grand County ranchers, submitted claims totaling $558,161.92, although he has stated that his losses totaled more than $600,000 in 2024. However, he accepted a settlement with CPW for $422,784.78. That’s $135,377.15 less than what he filed for.
Another claim for $99,130.60 was apparently reduced to $56,008.74, which is $43,121.86 less.*
A claim by Don Gittleson of Jackson County for $2,542 was not included in the report. That claim is on hold while the state reviews rules that allow only veterinarian-provided care for injured animals. Most of the time, ranchers provide that care themselves and at a substantial savings, both to the rancher and the state.
A claim approved in May by the commission, for $32,768 to compensate for cattle killed by wolves in 2024, was also not included in the information provided by the state. (The claim for $32,768, the state wildlife agency said, was covered under two payments for $4,096 and $28,672.)
Finally, two claims submitted last December for $41,138.09 and $2,118.19, respectively, for low weights and the cost of a calf and the necropsy that the rancher paid for, was also not included in the open records data provided by the state.
Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, one of the sponsors of SB 38, said he found the discrepancies “concerning.”