Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) announced on Saturday it’s not recommending commissioners take up a petition submitted by 26 agricultural organizations in September. Petitioners requested CPW halt wolf releases until the agency could oblige several requests from ranchers, including offering free site assessments, launching a range rider program, employing a rapid response team for depredations, and defining chronic depredation, among others.
In his recommendation, CPW Director Jeff Davis said his staff has already addressed many of the ranchers’ concerns.
“We’ve been listening to and working with all stakeholders in this historic restoration effort all year,” said Davis. “The results are evident in our improved Conflict Minimization Program, the addition of new staff to work alongside producers, strengthened partnerships such as the Ad Hoc Working Group and Colorado Department of Agriculture, and now clear guidelines for producers as it relates to chronic depredation and lethal management considerations.”
CPW will begin training range riders in January who can patrol ranchlands to deter wolf attacks later in the spring. It offers free site assessments to advise ranchers on how to protect their livestock based on their unique property and operations.
The agency also provides grants to help ranching organizations employ nonlethal wolf management tactics like flags, strobe lights, and other deterrents.
On Monday, the organization also defined chronic depredation, a condition CPW requires to kill a wolf that’s consistently preying on livestock, unless the wolf is seen actively preying on cows or sheep.
According to CPW, “chronic depredation” means three or more depredation events caused by the same wolf or wolves within 30 days, as long as clear and convincing evidence exists that at least one of the kills was caused by wolves.
Until now, many ranchers expressed frustration over CPW’s lack of a formal definition since ranchers weren’t clear when they were entitled to lethally remove a wolf from their property that was terrorizing their livestock.
Tom Harrington, the president of Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, recognized the value of implementing nonlethal management strategies at a wolf listening session with Eagle County commissioners on Dec. 18. However, he said that defining chronic depredation will give ranchers peace of mind that they will have lethal options if other tactics are unsuccessful.
“We need to be guaranteed that that is available,” Harrington said. “When you've done all the nonlethal (strategies), and they don't work, when the wolves still figure out how to get around. They’re preying on your livestock, wrecking your operation, and (ranchers) can remove those by lethal control, not moving them somewhere else and then relocating that problem.”
While CPW says it has addressed concerns from ranchers, many continue to find it difficult to receive compensation when a wolf kills cows or sheep or other ranch animals, because most livestock roam large parcels of public lands, making it difficult to locate a carcass and prove that a wolf was responsible for killing it.
James Bair is a rancher in Glenwood Canyon and described the dilemma to Eagle County commissioners last week.
“It is really, really hard to get paid for your livestock that gets killed,” Bair said. “Finding them, that's one thing. Finding them in a timely manner, that's another thing. Finding them in a timely manner and being able to prove exactly what killed them, that's another thing.”
Club 20 and Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, two of the leaders of the petition, could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.
The CPW Commission meets on Jan. 8, 2025 and will consider its staff recommendation before voting to approve or deny the petition.
