By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice
A little more than four years ago, voters statewide supported Prop. 114 to reintroduce gray wolves to Colorado.
As long as it is the law, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are directed to implement it, cattle raisers are going to have to face the challenge, Colorado Cattlemen’s Association Executive Vice President Erin Karney said Tuesday in a lecture kicking off the Colorado Farm Show.
“It is going to continue to be a burden to livestock producers,” she said.
She argues, though, what might be viewed as a Western Slope issue is a concern on both sides of the continental divide, noting the operations of Eastern Colorado cattle raisers, feedlots, sale barns and processing plants.
“A lot of our members are directly affected,” Karney said. “We continue to put pressure on the administration of the CPW to do what’s right and provide communication in the process.”
She noted the element of the voter mandate for reintroduction. Prop. 114 passed by a narrow 1.8% margin, with 12 of 64 counties (19%) supporting the measure, but it was passed nonetheless.
One issue which has emerged is the costs of compensation to livestock producers who can establish losses as a result of the reintroduction. Three producers have filed claims for $571,000 for indirect losses, which Karney indicates might not be paid.
The state’s compensation fund only has about $300,000.
“We’re about $200,000 short,” Karney said. “The other thing is the state is required to pass a balanced budget and they are about $1 billion short.”
She was asked to explain the reasoning for reintroduction at all.
“There’s the belief system that the apex predator will save the ecosystem,” she said.
One audience member responded, “who was saving the ecosystem for all those years before?”
But until the law can be repealed, Colorado is stuck with the gray wolf: “As much as we don’t want it,” Karney said, “CPW must meet the requirement.”