Ranchers’ trust destroyed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s wolf release
By Marianne Goodland | SOURCE: COLORADO POLITICS
Lawmakers grilled officials from the Department of Natural Resources and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, who found themselves on the hot seat on Wednesday at the state Capitol, where policymakers described communication failures and problems tied to the release of wolves in Grand and Summit counties last month.
The lawmakers said the state mishandled communications over the release and added that destroyed trust with ranchers and landowners. They added those ranchers and landers are now saying they will no longer work with the agency on conservation issues.
Dan Gibbs, chief of the Department of Natural Resources, apologized for the communication failures.
Lawmakers also hammered agency representatives over their refusal to come up with a definition of “chronic depredation” that would allow a Jackson County rancher to deal with two wolves — unrelated to the released wolves — that have killed 16 livestock and four working cattle dogs.