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Colorado ranchers and commissioners urge halt on wolf ballot measure, seek better management plan from state
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado ranchers and commissioners urge halt on wolf ballot measure, seek better management plan from state

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics While they might agree on the problem, a group of Western Slope county commissioners and agricultural groups are asking proponents of a ballot measure to repeal Proposition 114, which allowed the reintroduction of wolves in Colorado, to back off. A March 17 letter was sent to Patrick Davis, who heads Colorado Advocates for Smart Wolf Policy, which is supporting the repeal ballot measure. The signatories are county commissioners from Garfield, Grand, Mesa, Moffat, Montrose and Rio Blanco counties and four county-based wool growers associations. The letter indicates that ranchers and county officials opposed to the reintroduction program are willing to work within the system, utilizing the state's wolf management plan as a means of addressing...
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Colorado Joint Budget Committee addresses wolf reintroduction concerns with budget footnotes
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado Joint Budget Committee addresses wolf reintroduction concerns with budget footnotes

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics While agricultural organizations did not succeed in their efforts to halt the reintroduction of more wolves, they found a more sympathetic ear among policymakers at the state Capitol. In their work on "footnotes," which are directions to state departments on administering appropriations, the Joint Budget Committee adopted two items related to the wolf reintroduction program. Footnotes do not have the force of law, although state agencies comply. Even when the governor vetoes a footnote, usually due to a separation of powers issue, he often directs the agencies to comply anyway. The first said the annual $2.1 million general fund appropriation should be used to implement Proposition 114, the narrowly-adopted 2020 ballot measure that resulted...
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Federal agency kills Colorado wolf connected to sheep deaths in Wyoming 
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Approved, State, The Post Independent

Federal agency kills Colorado wolf connected to sheep deaths in Wyoming 

By Ali Longwell | The Post Independent One of the male wolves that Colorado Parks and Wildlife relocated from British Columbia to Colorado in January has died.  The state wildlife agency confirmed on Thursday that it received a mortality alert for the wolf (2505-BC) on Sunday, March 16. The wolf was in north-central Wyoming at the time.  The wolf was killed following the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s investigation and response to a sheep predation event on private land in north-central Wyoming, according to Tanya Espinosa, a spokesperson for the federal agency.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE POST INDEPENDENT
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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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Grand County ranchers will receive almost $350k in compensation for animals lost to wolves last year
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Grand County ranchers will receive almost $350k in compensation for animals lost to wolves last year

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Two ranchers who lost livestock to wolf attacks in Grand County will receive nearly $350,000 in compensation for losses reported starting a year ago after the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission unanimously approved the payment during its monthly meeting Wednesday.  Farrell Livestock will receive $287,407.63 for sheep and cattle losses and Bruchez and Sons will receive $56,008 for cattle losses. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Colorado’s wolves make their way across the western part of the state
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Colorado’s wolves make their way across the western part of the state

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice As seen in the newest map released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), "newcomers" from the north are making their way across the entire Western Slope. This might excite CPW officials and wolf advocate groups, but not everyone.      Josh Wambolt wrote the members of the Colorado Wildlife Commission in an open letter that reads, “If you have not noticed, the ranchers and outfitters are pretty upset with the CPW commission, Director Davis, and the senior staff calling the shots.," wrote Josh Wamboltin a letter to the members of the Colorado Wildlife Commission. "If you haven’t noticed the exasperation from the general public, and those being affected by these wolves, and the unkept promises you made to people, I hig...
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Bill to provide ranchers confidentiality in reporting of wolf depredation losses sailing through legislature
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Bill to provide ranchers confidentiality in reporting of wolf depredation losses sailing through legislature

By Brian Porter | Rocky Mountain Voice Relief from a state reporting requirement on ranchers most impacted by the reintroduction of wolves could soon be on its way. Senate Bill 25-038, introduced in the Senate by Western Slope Sens. Marc Catlin and Dylan Roberts, requires the confidentiality of personal information for anyone filing a claim related to wolf depredation or other damages. It sailed out of the House's Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources Committee this week on a 13-0 vote and passed second reading on the House floor by voice vote. The bill earned a rare 35-0 vote of support in the Senate, before advancing to the House. When a new batch of wolves were released in the state earlier this year, it was done so with secrecy, Republican Rep. Ty Winter notes. "We thi...
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Ballot measure to overturn Colorado wolf reintroduction clears title board in first hurdle
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Ballot measure to overturn Colorado wolf reintroduction clears title board in first hurdle

By Jason Blevins | The Colorado Sun Wolf reintroduction could return to the Colorado ballot next year.  The Colorado Secretary of State’s Title Board on Wednesday approved language for a proposed ballot measure that would ask voters in 2026 to end the reintroduction of gray wolves by the end of that year.  “The only thing we are doing with this ballot measure is asking voters to approve a day where wolves would no longer be introduced in Colorado by humans,” said Stan VanderWerf, a former El Paso County commissioner who helped write the ballot measure. “This proposal does not make any other changes to state or provisions that address the management of wolves or reimbursement for depredation. It’s a very simple proposal.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE ...
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Local ranchers get wolf training from Delta County Livestock Association
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Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

Local ranchers get wolf training from Delta County Livestock Association

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice There have been no reported wolf depredation of cattle or sheep in Delta County, so far, but Robbie LeValley, on behalf of the Delta Livestock Association, gave a Feb. 13 presentation to more than 130 ranchers in Hotchkiss, Colo., emphasizing how critical precise record keeping will be — should and must likely when the quiet ranching community is impacted by wolf depredation. Hotchkiss is a small town with a population of 929 people, all of whom are impacted by the local ranching economy. Hotchkiss is located in the North Fork of the Gunnison River, between Paonia and Delta, in Delta County. “We are not here to argue about the wolves, they’re here. Wolves are close, they are on top of us,” LeValley said. The informat...
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Wolf 2307-OR died as a result of another wolf, not a gunshot wound as some theorized
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Wolf 2307-OR died as a result of another wolf, not a gunshot wound as some theorized

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Despite allegations and innuendos from animal rights activists, wolf 2307-OR died as a result of a fight with another wolf, not a gunshot wound last September. Wolf 2307-OR was found dead after his collar signaled that he had died, on Sept. 9, 2024, CPW reported in a press release Sept. 12, 20224, concerning the event three days earlier. CPW, at the time, said that 2307-OR was killed by another wolf, but then backtracked when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS) noted there was a gunshot injury. Months later, the pathology report concluded that the gunshot was not a factor in the wolf’s demise. In a Jan. 8 meeting of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, commissioners heard repeated accusations from pro-...
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