JACKSON COUNTY, Colo. — The North Park Stockgrowers Association has added pressure to Colorado Parks and Wildlife to lethally remove wolves in the area that are responsible for livestock deaths.
The association in Jackson County voiced its concerns in a letter sent Monday to Gov. Jared Polis and CPW. This comes after the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association in Grand County wrote letters to the state on April 18 and on Monday. Both counties have had wolf depredations since the beginning of April – five in Grand County and one in Jackson County.
"I’m not mad at CPW, but it’s their job to manage the wolves, and so far they haven’t done that properly," said Wade Allnut, past president and member of the North Park Stockgrowers. "These wolves have killed multiple times in the same locations, and they're going to keep doing it. They’re just making a living, but they can’t make a living with us."
The Northern Stockgrowers' letter said the group stands with the Middle Park Stockgrowers in their request to have chronic depredating wolves lethally removed.
The letter said: "If it need be reminded, CPW is held accountable by the voters of Colorado per the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan that, 'Restoration of the gray wolf to the state must be designed to resolve conflicts with persons engaged in ranching and farming in this state' (Appendix A.1.d page 60). Repeated depredation of livestock in Grand and Jackson County is a conflict that must be resolved."
"It's unfair to man and beast to be quite honest," Allnut said. "It’s unfair to those of us who have to live and try to continue to make a living with the wolves, but it’s setting the wolves up for failure. Colorado is a state of 5.8 million people."
Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed this month that some of the wolf or wolves in the area during the livestock deaths were from the reintroduced wolves that CPW brought to the area from Oregon in December 2023. CPW will not say which wolves they were. 9NEWS reported in December that at least three of the reintroduced wolves came from packs that killed livestock in Oregon.
Since Middle Park Stockgrowers sent their first letter April 18, Tim Ritschard, head of the association, said his group had not heard back from the governor's office or Jeff Davis, director of CPW.
"That's a little infuriating that Middle Park’s letter hasn’t even been acknowledged to the extent that they decided to write a second letter," Allnut said. "We want our voices to be heard, and if the squeaky wheel squeaks enough, it’ll be heard eventually.
"We want people to know that we are here, and we’re not just these little Podunk towns on your way to go skiing," Allnut said. "We are members of this state, too."
Middle Park Stockgrowers' second letter, sent on Monday, said, "We are writing to reiterate our urgent request, submitted on April 18th, 2024, for the immediate lethal removal for two specific wolves in Grand County, Colorado."
Governor's office, CPW respond
The governor's press secretary, Shelby Wieman, said in a statement that officials with CPW and the state agriculture department will work with ranchers on how to successfully and non-lethally stop depredation, as has been done successfully in other states. CPW installed fox lights, is putting up flandry and has conducted night watches, she said.
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“It is widely known that wolves are opportunistic hunters, and Colorado voters were fully aware of the diet of wolves and made the decision to reintroduce wolves," Wieman said in the statement. "... The cornerstones of the wolf reintroduction program are to establish a viable wolf population and to reduce impacts on ranchers. Lethal control of wolves when there are only 12 known wolves in the state is premature."
CPW Director Jeff Davis sent a response letter to the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association on Tuesday, CPW said.
In the letter, CPW said "the wolf that could be implicated in these depredations is the male of a pair that we believe to be denning."
"This would be the first den from wolves reintroduced to Colorado," the letter said. "We are working diligently to confirm the den, and hope to have information on this soon. Removing the male breeder at this point would be irresponsible management and potentially cause the den to fail, possibly resulting in the death of the presumed pups. This is not a desirable result and I am therefore not going to take action at this time to lethally remove this animal."
"The wolf population in Colorado is far below any restoration goal," the letter continued. "We have the legal duty to establish a self-sustaining population of wolves while minimizing conflict risk. Any consideration of lethal removal will be carefully deliberated to ensure it does not conflict with these legally mandated restoration goals."
'We can do this'
The state has a reimbursement program for confirmed wolf depredations on cattle of up to $15,000 per loss. A Wolf Depredation Compensation cash fund, provided by the state's general fund, that will receive additional funds each year, Wieman said.
Colorado has not defined chronic depredation. The Middle Park Stockgrowers said in their statement, "Getting wolf restoration right from the start requires addressing conflicts proactively, especially when wolves from known depredating packs are introduced. Lethal removal, as a last resort, is a necessary tool to deter further depredation and rebuild trust with stakeholders."
In addition to the two letters from Middle Park and one from North Park, the Larimer and Gunnison
County Stockgrowers Associations also sent letters to the state, along with the Grand County Sheriff's office.
"I don’t want to say it makes me emotional, like choke up kind of thing, but it’s like that halftime pep talk fourth-quarter situation," Allnut said. "As a team, we can do this. It’s not me, not you, not I. It’s we. It’s us. Divided we fall, united we stand."
Allnut said that first, he would like acknowledgement that CPW or the governor's office have read the letters. Second, he said, he would like to slow or stop the reintroduction of wolves.
"Stop bringing more until you get a handle on what you’ve got," he said. "The chaos and mismanagement at this point is already causing problems."
Both Allnut and Ritschard said they had not heard back from CPW or the governor's office as of Monday afternoon.
> Video below: When can wolves be killed? Ranchers and some lawmakers want clarity:
Letters from the North Park Stockgrowers Association, the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association and the Larimer County Stock Growers:
Response letter from CPW:
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