Ranchers, Coloradans voice concerns on wolf reintroduction at CPW Commission meeting

DENVER ( KDVR ) — People from across the state came to Denver on Thursday to discuss wolves at the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting.

As the animals continue to cause concerns for ranchers , community members wanted to make sure Colorado Parks and Wildlife heard what they had to say.

“This isn’t an easy space, right I mean, it’s been maybe the most uncomfortable time in my 27-year career,” CPW’s director Jeff Davis said at Thursday’s meeting.

Navigating the Colorado voted-in reintroduction of wolves, CPW’s director called on the working ad hoc group to have in-depth discussions.

“The precise location where crates are open is not really important to me, these wolves are highly mobile, they move great distances,” Wolf Program Manager Eric Odell said. “It’s really just looking at where is there suitable wolf habitat, where are there populations of ungulates and taking into consideration what we can for livestock presence.”

The ad hoc working group is made up of different parties, ranchers, wolf advocates and experts with CPW a part of it.

“The one key thing that was really driving getting the ad hoc group together is to gain clarity over what chronic depredation definition is,” Davis said.

What does ‘chronic depredation’ mean to ranchers, CPW?

The term chronic depredation is important for ranchers when it comes to reactions and compensation after livestock deaths related to wolves.

“This calf had a tooth mark with hemorrhaging around the DWM (District Wildlife Manager) that came in to investigate it tried telling us there was not enough evidence to prove it was a wolf kill of any sort, or it was a kill of any sort, that don’t just happen,” Rancher Conway Farrell said. “The kills were on Sept. 9th. CPWs wolf conflict specialist went in 8 days later to do the site assessment, this is not rapid response.”

“Colorado’s wolf management plan must be amended to require removal of attractants like livestock carcass dumps and compliance with basic non-lethal measures to protect livestock,” Ecologist and Colorado resident Delia Malone said. “This is the only way to ensure both wolves and livestock operations coexist.”

“We need to take a proactive approach and not reactive going into the future,” rancher Doug Bruchez said.

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