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Tag: Wolf reintroduction

Colorado Budget Clears Legislature With Mixed Results On Key Priorities
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Budget Clears Legislature With Mixed Results On Key Priorities

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Colorado legislators on Tuesday adopted a $46.8 billion plan to pay for state operations and programs next year after a joint panel reconciled differences between the House and Senate versions. A small group of lawmakers had resolved those differences. Lawmakers adopted what is called the conference committee report on House Bill 1410 — the budget measure — mostly along party lines. Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, a member of the Joint Budget Committee, was the only Republican to vote in favor of the bill in the Senate. In the House, fellow JBC member Rep. Rick Taggart, R-Grand Junction, was the only Republican to vote “yes,” while Rep. Bob Marshall, D-Highlands Ranch, was the only Democrat to vote “no.” READ T...
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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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Colorado House Pushes Through $46.8 Billion Budget After Contentious Debate
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado House Pushes Through $46.8 Billion Budget After Contentious Debate

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The House on Saturday, after four days of work – it usually takes two – finished up their work and voted on the $46.8 billion 2026-27 state budget, as contained in House Bill 1410 and 64 accompanying measures designed to help balance the budget. The delay in getting to the finish line was caused by Rep. Brandi Bradley, R-Roxborough Park, who asked for the 661-page budget bill to be read at length, a computer-operated process expected to take up to 15 hours. That was on Wednesday, the first day the full House worked on the budget. The reading was laid over until late Thursday by House Majority Leader Rep. Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge. The reading didn’t start until after 6:30 p.m., to allow the House to finish wor...
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Poll Finds Colorado Majority Opposes Prostitution Legalization and Questions Wolf Reintroduction
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Poll Finds Colorado Majority Opposes Prostitution Legalization and Questions Wolf Reintroduction

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A majority of Colorado residents — 61% — oppose legalizing prostitution in the state, an idea that lawmakers floated earlier in the legislative session before pulling their proposal. Just over half of Democratic respondents said they would support legalization, while 76% of Republicans and two-thirds of unaffiliated voters said they are against it. Meanwhile, half of the respondents said they would support a measure suspending the reintroduction of gray wolves on public lands in Colorado, while 39% said they are opposed to the idea, according to the Other statewide Democrats also saw their favorability ratings drop, though relatively stable compared to the governor’s numbers, the poll conducted by the Colorado P...
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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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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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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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