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‘Everyone feels anxiety’ over CPW depredation payments, but commissioners note it’s the law
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

‘Everyone feels anxiety’ over CPW depredation payments, but commissioners note it’s the law

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice “Everyone feels anxiety and fear about all this," Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis told commissioners as they approved a large payment to two Colorado ranchers in Grand County that lost livestock as a direct result of the wolf reintroduction program. The agenda item was on the commission's consent agenda — generally reserved for items so routine as to not require discussion. A motion was made to approve the depredation claims in the amount of $343,000 and some change. "I feel like we’re working with ranchers and livestock operations," Davis said. "It may not feel or look like it to them sometimes, but we are.” Davis continued, “These are large claims. We are the only western state that pays for itemize...
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Colorado Parks and Wildlife capture, relocate Rampart Bighorn Sheep for new herd
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Approved, CBS Colorado, State

Colorado Parks and Wildlife capture, relocate Rampart Bighorn Sheep for new herd

By Christa Swanson | CBS Colorado In January, Colorado Parks and Wildlife began an operation to capture 20 Rampart Bighorn Sheep to start a new herd. Every morning staff and volunteers have been spreading apple pulp and alfalfa to prep the sheep for capture at an old quarry above Colorado Springs. Officials said the sheep will be relocated to the mountains southwest of Pueblo to start a new herd. The bales of hay and apple pulp are intended to lure the 150-member Rampart herd, where a net will be set up to catch 20 of the Bighorn Sheep. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
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In clandestine operation, 20 wolves have been released in Pitkin and Eagle County
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

In clandestine operation, 20 wolves have been released in Pitkin and Eagle County

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Residents in Pitkin and Eagle counties have some new international neighbors, a press release from Colorado Parks and Wildlife reads. Fifteen wolves from British Columbia — eight females and seven males — were rounded up by helicopter and darted from the air, then placed in pens while veterinarians examined and treated the wolves for parasites, and vaccinated them against rabies, canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus, canine parainfluenza virus and canine parvovirus. Along with the 15 wolves from British Columbia, the remaining members of the livestock-killing Copper Creek pack — a female and four pups — were released after being caught and penned at a wildlife sanctuary since last August.   “In British Columbia,...
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Pikes Peak stakeholders ask state to help manage recreation around America’s Mountain
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Pikes Peak stakeholders ask state to help manage recreation around America’s Mountain

By Jason Blevins | The Colorado Sun As federal land managers navigate shrinking budgets, Colorado Parks and Wildlife could assume a larger role in managing recreation on public lands around Pikes Peak.  A consortium — the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, El Paso and Teller counties, the cities of Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs Utilities — is asking CPW to help manage increasing recreation around America’s Mountain, starting with management of the Ring the Peak Trail.  “This can allow the Forest Service to focus on areas where they can do the most good with their wildfire crisis strategy. The same can be said for Colorado Springs Utilities focusing on water supplies and the health of our watersheds,” s...
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CPW baiting bighorn sheep to relocate herd from Colorado Springs to Pueblo
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Approved, Fox21, State

CPW baiting bighorn sheep to relocate herd from Colorado Springs to Pueblo

By Norishka Pachot | KXRM-TV Fox 21 News A Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) biologist is leading a team to trap several bighorn sheep and relocate them to mountains near Pueblo. CPW terrestrial biologist Tyrel Woodward will be leading a team throughout the month of January to trap 20 bighorn sheep at an old quarry above Colorado Springs. On Tuesday, Jan. 14, CPW staffers John Barkowski and Joey Livingston helped distribute bales of hay and apple pulp to lure 150-member Rampart herd to a site where a net would be set up to catch 20 sheep. READ THE FULL STORY AT KXRM-TV FOX 21
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In CPW switching its big-game draw, hunters with preference points are short-changed
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Approved, Outdoor Life, State

In CPW switching its big-game draw, hunters with preference points are short-changed

By Natalie Krebs | Outdoor Life The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission voted Thursday to update the way Colorado awards most of its big game tags. It’s the latest in a years-long policy review that has received plenty of public commentary and criticism. The draw changes, which take effect in 2028, are designed — in part — to combat point creep. Now, hunters who have already racked up preference points in Colorado are facing a moving goalpost. The biggest change to the annual application process is the elimination of Colorado’s hybrid draw system. CPW is replacing it with a split-draw model for all elk, deer, bear, pronghorn, and turkey tags. The available tags for each hunt will be divided evenly between two pools of applicants: Fifty percent will be distributed under a familiar ...
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Ranchers hit CPW with $580k in compensation claims for livestock impacted by wolves
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Ranchers hit CPW with $580k in compensation claims for livestock impacted by wolves

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Ranchers in Grand County hit Colorado Parks and Wildlife with a $582,000 bill for wolf kills and related impacts on cattle and sheep in the first year of reintroduction, and they are hoping the sum will convince the parks and wildlife commission to pause the next phase of the program at its meeting in Denver on Jan. 8.  The claims are from three producers and center around attacks on livestock in 2024. A breakdown includes $18,411.71 for confirmed attacks resulting in injury or death of cows, calves and sheep; $173,526.63 for yearling cattle, calves and sheep reported missing from ranches with a confirmed attack or death; $216,772.20 for cattle from said ranches taken to market with a lower-than-normal weight; $172,754.64 for lower conception rat...
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Search for fifth Copper Creek wolf pup called off by Colorado wildlife managers after 19 nights
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Search for fifth Copper Creek wolf pup called off by Colorado wildlife managers after 19 nights

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun Colorado wildlife officials have given up on capturing a fifth wolf pup that was left behind in Grand County when the rest of its pack was relocated last month.  The operation to find the pup was suspended Thursday because of declining temperatures that make it unsafe to move the animal, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said Friday.  Wildlife officials saw the gray wolf pup on game cameras in September and tried for 19 nights to capture the pup, which they believe is the seventh member of the Copper Creek pack, CPW said. Still, they will continue to watch the game cameras and look for evidence of the pup, which is about six months old, they said.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Parks and Wildlife Commission overturns staff on wolf kill, orders payment to rancher
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Parks and Wildlife Commission overturns staff on wolf kill, orders payment to rancher

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Over the last year, a common issue between Colorado Parks and Wildlife and ranchers is the state agency’s slow response in investigating wolves killing livestock and how a lack of training leads to incorrect determinations. Last week, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission rejected a staff recommendation to deny a claim for a calf killed by a wolf on a Silver Spur ranch near Walden. The commission instead voted to approve the payment, ordering CPW to reverse its original decision that is was not a wolf kill. The commission voted 5-4 to reject the staff recommendation and identically to approve the payment. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Paralyzed mountain lion found in Colorado is first case of “staggering disease” in North America
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Paralyzed mountain lion found in Colorado is first case of “staggering disease” in North America

By Michael Booth | The Colorado Sun In May 2023, a homeowner in Douglas County was astonished to find a partially paralyzed mountain lion taking cover between her basement window well and a spruce tree, dragging itself forward with its front paws. The year-old female couldn’t stand up, a phenomenon clear in the video the owner took while safely inside the house. Wildlife officers tranquilized the debilitated lion, then euthanized her with a gunshot to the chest to protect brain cells for a necropsy.  After a year of studying the animal, researchers are declaring her the first North American case of “staggering disease” in a mountain lion, according to Colorado State University veterinarian and former Colorado Parks and Wildlife pathologist Karen Fox. READ THE FULL STORY AT...
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