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Livestock Losses And Budget Overruns Fuel Federal Review of Colorado’s Wolf Program
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Livestock Losses And Budget Overruns Fuel Federal Review of Colorado’s Wolf Program

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Federal wildlife officials have opened a formal review of Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program, launching a public comment period to assess how the state has handled rising conflicts between wolves and livestock. A notice from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was published in the Federal Register on Monday, setting a June 5 deadline for the comments. The notice says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking information on how Colorado has implemented the federal 10(j) rule issued in 2023. It also explains that the agency signed a memorandum of understanding with Colorado Parks and Wildlife outlining goals, such as providing timely public updates on the restoration program, conducting outreach, and carrying out ...
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Look what they’ve done to her BLM mess: A policy reversal hits a nerve
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GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, National

Look what they’ve done to her BLM mess: A policy reversal hits a nerve

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com The New Seekers are best remembered for wanting to buy the world a Coke in their classic hit, "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing." But a year earlier, they first hit the charts with another standard, "Look What They've Done to My Song," featuring the sad lyric, "It's the only thing that I can do half right, and it's turning out all wrong." That must be the lamentation of Tracy Stone-Manning, who ran the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under President Biden. I know because she is complaining so loudly about her successors in the current Administration. They are steadily unraveling the mess she left behind, and she is not happy. In an online editorial, she bitterly complains that the agency is in dire straits because of staffi...
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JBS Labor Dispute in Greeley Could Complicate Beef Markets Beyond Colorado
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

JBS Labor Dispute in Greeley Could Complicate Beef Markets Beyond Colorado

By Jessica Porter | Denver7 The plant which processes up to 6,000 heads of cattle per day will impact the beef supply chain. GREELEY, Colo. — The impact of the JBS meatpacking plant strike on consumer beef prices is imperceptible in the short term, but the long-term impact is more complicated. About 3,800 workers at JBS Beef in Greeley walked off the job Monday as the union claimed the company retaliated against workers and committed unfair labor practices. The beef production facility processes between 5,000 and 6,000 head of cattle per day. “In the short term, the impact of the consumer level is probably pretty small, negligible, maybe not even present whatsoever, but if this continues, supply and demand will play out, and it's almost unavoi...
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Colorado Wolf Program Faces Scrutiny As Survival Rate Falls To 44 Percent
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Wolf Program Faces Scrutiny As Survival Rate Falls To 44 Percent

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The female wolf of the mating pair for the King Mountain pack has died, bringing total fatalities to 14 out of the 25 animals reintroduced in Colorado. The wolf, identified as No. 2310, was among the 10 wolves brought to Colorado from Oregon in December 2023. The male of the King Mountain pack mating pair had died in January in Routt County following a botched collaring operation conducted by a Colorado Parks and Wildllife contractor. That operation drew criticism from wolf advocates at the March 5 parks and wildlife commission meeting. Advocates claimed the effort was reckless and that the contractor hired was a “bargain basement contractor who had a history of deaths” in similar efforts. State wildlife authori...
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Colorado Wolf Compensation Claims Top $700K In 2025 Far Exceeding State Fund
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Wolf Compensation Claims Top $700K In 2025 Far Exceeding State Fund

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission approved more than $706,000 in wolf depredation claims for 2025 during its March meeting last week, an amount that exceeds the state’s annual wolf compensation fund by more than double. The commission also rejected another $53,611 in claims. But more claims are expected, based on comments from Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff in January.  Of the claims approved last week, $615,000 was listed on the commission’s consent agenda; another claim for $125,265 was split, with $91,170 approved for payment and the rest denied. There were several other claims recommended for denial by CPW staff, which the commission affirmed. A CPW official told a joint meeting of the House and Sena...
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Wolf Advocates Push Stricter Rules Before Wolves Can Be Killed For Livestock Attacks
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Wolf Advocates Push Stricter Rules Before Wolves Can Be Killed For Livestock Attacks

By: Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Wolf advocates want to make it harder to legally kill reintroduced wolves and ensure ranchers first exhaust a detailed list of nonlethal hazing methods. It’s the latest in a debate between animal protection groups and hunters that is coming to a head this spring in various venues.  The Center for Biological Diversity says Colorado Parks and Wildlife regulations don’t do enough to protect animals. Hunting groups want the status quo. The fight has already played out at the Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting last week when the center introduced a petition to ban the sale of commercial fur in Colorado. They’re also backing a bill to ban the killing of beavers on Colorado public lands.   The center said no...
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Rural Colorado Rancher Warns Wolf Conflicts Are Hitting Close To Home
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The Fence Post, Approved, Commentary, State

Rural Colorado Rancher Warns Wolf Conflicts Are Hitting Close To Home

By: Wade Allnutt | Commentary, The Fence Post I write this letter as a taxpayer, livestock producer and, most importantly, as a father of two young children. I am not writing to point fingers, but to give a first-hand account of what was voted on and what we in rural western Colorado are now living with as a consequence. The recent confirmed wolf depredation of a dog in Jackson County on Feb. 7, 2026, hits close to home for me. However, it is no more important than the depredations and mounting stress others have faced across western Colorado since this process began as a result of Proposition 114. This was also not the first depredation event for this ranch; they have had five other confirmed depredations of cattle in the last two years. Colorado is not an untouched w...
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Bennet Signals Support for Suspending Colorado Wolf Reintroduction Program
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Bennet Signals Support for Suspending Colorado Wolf Reintroduction Program

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who is running for governor, told a newspaper this month that he favors suspending Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program, though he sounded less certain in another interview a few days later. “I think it’s right to suspend it for now and to try to see whether there’s any way to get back to a place where we’re implementing the original plan with fidelity,” he told the Durango Herald’s editorial board on Feb. 13. “But if we’re not able to implement with fidelity, then we shouldn’t continue.” Just three days later, Bennet appeared a little less certain in an interview with the Steamboat Pilot. “Asked about the reintroduction of wolves — one of the most contentious issues in Northwest C...
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Northern Colorado Rancher Says Wolf Attack Killed Family Dog
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Northern Colorado Rancher Says Wolf Attack Killed Family Dog

By Anna Coon | KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — A fifth-generation rancher in northern Colorado says his nine-year-old dog was killed earlier this month in what he believes was a wolf attack, marking the latest reported conflict between livestock producers and gray wolves reintroduced to the state in 2023. Coy Meyring said he found his dog, Scout, dead along a back fence line on Feb. 7. Meyring believes one or more wolves were responsible, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed the incident on its wolf depredation site. “We’re really defenseless here,” Meyring said. Meyring told Steamboat Radio that it was not the first time wolves had attacked animals on his property. He said two cattle have been killed and two others injured in previous incidents, which he attribu...
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Federal Pressure Forces Colorado To Halt Wolf Reintroductions
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Federal Pressure Forces Colorado To Halt Wolf Reintroductions

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette Colorado Parks and Wildlife, facing mounting criticism from the Trump administration over its management of the wolf reintroduction program, announced Wednesday they will not bring in any new wolves to the state for the 2026 winter season. CPW was turned down in November by Washington state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Washington residents criticized Colorado for mismanaging the program. CPW director Jeff Davis resigned in lieu of termination weeks later. The CPW announcement didn’t mention the pushback the agency is getting from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which on Dec. 18 demanded Colorado provide a complete report of all gray wolf conservation and management activities...
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