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Polis Activates Emergency Drought Measures As Reservoirs Feel Growing Strain
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Polis Activates Emergency Drought Measures As Reservoirs Feel Growing Strain

By Luige Del Puerto and Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday declared a statewide drought emergency, citing the record-low snowpack and prolonged warmer temperatures across Colorado. He also activated the next phase of the state’s drought response plan. Polis had placed Colorado under Phase 2 in March. “Today, I am issuing a statewide drought emergency to support Coloradans, our economy, farmers and ranchers, and outdoor enthusiasts in the face of one of the most severe droughts in Colorado’s recorded history. With every county in the state experiencing drought conditions, activating Phase 3 of our Drought Response Plan allows us to better coordinate agencies, prepare for worsening conditions, and support Colorado communities, agriculture...
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Copper Creek Wolves Drive Majority Of Colorado Livestock Losses
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The Coloradoan, Approved, State

Copper Creek Wolves Drive Majority Of Colorado Livestock Losses

By Miles Blumhardt | The Coloradoan Beef, and mutton, are often what's for dinner for one Colorado wolfpack that has racked up a $700,000 tab, according to a review by the Coloradoan. The Copper Creek pack has been implicated in more than 60% of the state's confirmed depredations — 49 of 78 —since Colorado began reintroducing wolves in December 2023, a review of Colorado Parks and Wildlife's confirmed depredations records and ranchers' depredation claim filings shows. Those losses led to payouts by the state exceeding $700,000. That is greater than 40% of the total amount Colorado has paid for wolf depredations in that time. In total, the agency awarded ranchers more than $1.6 million in wolf depredation claims combined in 2024 and 2025. That's more than doub...
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Feds Open Public Comment Period On Colorado Wolf Reintroduction
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Feds Open Public Comment Period On Colorado Wolf Reintroduction

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is requesting public comment and information regarding Colorado’s gray wolf importation program. This request comes just months after the federal agency threatened to take over wolf management in Colorado due to ongoing problems. As previously reported by Complete Colorado, FWS sent an official warning to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) management saying Colorado violated the terms of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) by releasing 15 wolves in January 2025 without informing citizens. FWS also criticized CPW’s management of the Copper Creek pack, which has a history of livestock depredation, and which cost Grand County ranchers alone $450,000 in losses. On April 4, FWS issued ...
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Colorado Wolf Program Costs Taxpayers More Than $1 Million In Livestock Claims
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Wolf Program Costs Taxpayers More Than $1 Million In Livestock Claims

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics After paying more than $700,000 in March to ranchers for livestock lost to wolves, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission is poised to approve two additional claims totaling $262,000 at its meeting this week. Those approvals would bring total payouts to about $970,000 with another $56,000 in claims rejected across the March and May meetings. And that figure only reflects claims requiring commission approval. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) staff can sign off on claims under $20,000, and the state’s wolf‑depredation website shows that, in 2025, the agency received 32 such claims totaling $47, 142.55, ranging from $88.50 to $3,500. That’s a total of $1.072 million for 2025 alone. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT...
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Lawmakers Push Back On Taxpayer Funding For Colorado Wolf Program
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Lawmakers Push Back On Taxpayer Funding For Colorado Wolf Program

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Sen. Dylan Roberts and Rep. Meghan Lukens led the charge to keep Colorado Parks and Wildlife from using general fund money to bring more wolves to Colorado. The General Assembly sent a strong message over the last few days to Gov. Jared Polis in footnotes to the proposed state budget: Stop using general fund money to reintroduce wolves to Colorado. Footnotes to the budget, also known as the long bill, aren’t legally binding. And the spending plan still has a few steps to go before it can be signed into law by Polis. But if approved, Colorado Parks and Wildlife would be on notice not to use taxpayer money to reintroduce wolves. Instead, lawmakers want the program authorized by voters in 2020 to rely on gifts, grants an...
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Wolf Claims to Exceed Annual State Allocation Topping One Million Dollars
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The Coloradoan, Approved, State

Wolf Claims to Exceed Annual State Allocation Topping One Million Dollars

By Miles Blumhardt | The Coloradoan More than $700,000 in wolf depredation claims by ranchers in 2025 have been recommended for approval by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, doubling the amount budgeted by the state. Six claims totaling $706,460.91 were listed among agenda items to be heard at the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting March 5 in Denver. Claims listed under the consent agenda can be removed for discussion at another meeting, approved or denied by vote of the commission, which has final say. The agenda also shows three claims totaling $53,611.71 that CPW is recommending be denied. The awarded claims are only a partial list of total claims statewide in 2025. Total compensation to ranchers for wolf depredations will exceed $1 million, an amount&...
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Does anyone care about the wolves? Or just the politics behind them
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GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Does anyone care about the wolves? Or just the politics behind them

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com If you were a grey wolf, it would be hard to imagine a more hostile environment than this state, into which 25 wolves have been involuntarily and violently extradited from their natural homes. It is reminiscent of illegal immigrants from south of the border being deported to prisons in unfamiliar countries like South Sudan and Uzbekistan. Those people have at least been accused of committing some crime. But what exactly have these wolves done to deserve such a fate? Wolves are among history’s most hated creatures. Writers have taught children for centuries to fear the Big Bad Wolf. Think of the villains in “Little Red Riding Hood” and at least three other Grimm’s fairy tales, or “The Three Little Pigs,” or at least four Ae...
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Tyson Plant Closure Leaves Nebraska Town Bracing for Economic Shock
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kdvr.com, Approved, National

Tyson Plant Closure Leaves Nebraska Town Bracing for Economic Shock

By: Josh Funk | KDVR FOX31 OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tyson Foods’ decision to close a beef plant that employs nearly one third of residents of Lexington, Nebraska, could devastate the small city and undermine the profits of ranchers nationwide. Closing a single slaughterhouse might not seem significant, but the Lexington plant employs roughly 3,200 people in the city of 11,000 and has the capacity to slaughter some 5,000 head of cattle a day. Tyson also plans to cut one of the two shifts at a plant in Amarillo, Texas, and eliminate 1,700 jobs there. Together those two moves will reduce beef processing capacity nationwide by 7-9%. Consumers may not see prices change much at the grocery store over the next six months because all the cattle that are now being prepared for slaughter will sti...
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Wolf Reintroduction Sparks Debate at Upcoming Colorado Town Hall
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State, Approved, The Gazette

Wolf Reintroduction Sparks Debate at Upcoming Colorado Town Hall

By The Gazette Staff | The Gazette Agriculture and outdoor recreation are considered two of Colorado’s most important industries. The outdoor recreation industry contributes over $65.8 billion and 511,000 jobs to Colorado’s economy, while the agriculture industry generates $47 billion and 195,000 jobs annually, according to the most recent data. Yet as Colorado Politics’ recent Rural Reckoning series indicated, these two powerhouses don’t always get the attention that industries do in the halls of the Capitol. A town hall on Tuesday, Sept. 9, sponsored by The Gazette and The Common Sense Institute, will dive more deeply into the importance of these industries to Colorado’s economic success, and the policies necessary to ensure they thrive. The Common Sense Institute is a non...
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From Colorado to California wolf conflicts fuel push to delist
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Grand View Outdoors, Approved, National

From Colorado to California wolf conflicts fuel push to delist

By RMEF Staff | Grand View Outdoors As new wolf packs kill livestock in Colorado and California, support grows to delist wolves nationwide. Wolves released by way of a controversial ballot initiative in Colorado, opposed by RMEF, have experienced a rocky start, creating headaches for wildlife managers and ranchers alike and seeing mortalities in their ranks.  In late August 2024, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) announced it was trying to capture and relocate wolves from the Copper Creek wolf pack, which formed from animals CPW released in Grand County in December 2023. Months later, the pack had killed nine cattle and an equal number of sheep.   In early September 2024, CPW announced that wildlife managers had captured the two adult wolves and four pups that ma...
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