By Shannon Lukens.
Ranchers and producers in Jackson County met with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) officers and officials in Walden this weekend. It was to discuss the draft just released of the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan.
While wolves have naturally migrated to Jackson County from Wyoming, Colorado residents voted to reintroduce wolves in Colorado, on land west of the Continental Divide, by the end of 2023. The draft discusses those plans.
Here’s the proposed map of where the wolves would be reintroduced. Each would be collared and tracked. CPW would reintroduce ten to 15 animals a year for three to five years. The wolves would be released on private grounds with permission of the landowners. No solicitation on that has yet been done. If they can’t find private lands, they will use state lands. Reintroduction needs to be 60 miles from the border of neighboring states.
Wolf Reintroduction Map
Kris Middledorf is the area wildlife manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. He was at the meeting at the Wattenberg Center in Walden.
“These meetings are important so we can hear from our public. Here in Jackson County, with our producers, they’ve been dealing with wolves now for two years. And it’s these relationships that are going to meaningful for this reintroduction to be successful. Working together finding solutions and commonality so we can get down this road 10-15 years from now, have wolves in the State of Colorado, and potentially co-exist. CPW needs our public. We need our producers to have a voice at our Parks and Wildlife commission meetings to voice their concerns, their comments, and their suggestions on how to make this meaningful and how to make this successful for everybody in Colorado.”
Philip Anderson, president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, is a native of Jackson County and North Park, and as he says, “Home of the migratory wolves.”
“Well that’s really important that landowners and private landowners give their opinion on how they feel, like the wolf is going to impact them. Depredation is obviously the number one concern that we have as cattle producers. And making sure that the toolbox that CPW wants us to use has some kind of control on wolves that are chronic on depredation of livestock. We’re not opposed to the wolf reintroduction. We just want to make sure that we have all the tools available to us to make sure it works for the livestock industry and of course all the people that make money from the wildlife, the elk hunters, the moose hunters, and the deer hunters because we know that the wolves are going to depredate on those animals also.”
Anderson also spoke up at the meeting to CPW officials saying, “You guys need to step up to the Wildlife Commission and tell them what needs to happen. This is a serious problem in North Park. We’re telling you our problems but is it being passed along to the commission?”
CPW has worked with Keystone Policy Center to hold 47 public meetings. Five more meetings are scheduled in Colorado to get more feedback on the draft. None are in Jackson County, which the ranchers in the room described as “ground zero” for the wolves in Colorado. CPW Officer Kris Middledorf said he will try to schedule a meeting for April 6 with the Wolf Commission, in Jackson County.
Jan. 19, 2023 – Colorado Springs – 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Jan. 25, 2023 – Gunnison – 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Feb. 7, 2023 – Rifle – 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Feb. 16, 2023 – Virtual via Zoom – 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Feb. 22, 2023 – Denver – 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Online comments can be made through wolfengagementco.org.
Here are other comments from the meeting.
There is five miles of fladry on hand with eight more miles coming in. Commissioners are discussing the growing need of fladry internally. Kris Middledorf said “We will need more for the reintroduction.” All of the fladry is in Jackson County. Wikipedia describes fladry as, “Fladry is a rope mounted along the top of a fence, from which are suspended strips of fabric or colored flags, that will flap in a breeze. They are intended to deter wolves from crossing the line.[1] Fladry lines have been used for this purpose for several centuries, traditionally for hunting wolves in Eastern Europe.[1] They may be used to protect livestock in small pastures from wolves.[1] They are effective temporarily, as the novelty may soon wear off, usually between three and five months. Sometimes this technique is used to alert horses and cattle to the presence of a fence, as the use of smoothwire fences and one strand of electric may not be seen by an animal unfamiliar with such. The use of fladry also has been suggested among techniques to prevent wolves from being attracted to dead stock that may be in conditions that make it difficult for ranchers to remove or bury the carcasses,[2] which endangers the livestock herd once the wolves are attracted.”
Adam Baca is the Wolf Conflict Prevention Officer for CPW. “When we put this animal on the landscape, we are going to have problems. We need to have the tools to deal with this.” Baca spent six years in Montana working with wolves and “one-on-one interaction with ranchers to see what will work best.” He said he wants to figure out how everyone can work together to protect livestock and livelihoods.
Eric Odell, Species Conservation Program Manager for CPW, spoke to the group. He said there are no active GPS collars on any wolves in Colorado this year. They want to put more on this winter with helicopter crews, but that is also expensive. They need to know where the animals are. If you see a wolf, report it on the CPW website.
Odell says they are working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife on the 10J rule which gives more management flexibility. “We are trying to establish the 10J Rule before reintroduction is in place in Dec. 2023.” The draft of the plan says a wolf could be shot if it is in the act of attacking or chasing livestock, but that rancher/producer must have a permit in place. Odell says they are in favor of the 10J rule. Kris Middledorf also said, “The 10J rule is paramount to our success.”
Odell says they watch for two packs that have at least two pups for at least two years. There was no reproduction this spring so Colorado is back at ground zero.
Odell says while wolves are federally protected, state statute says reintroduction is what has to be done. CPW is in collaboration with U.S. Fish and Wildlife. They are all following state law from a state vote.
Rancher Don Gittleson has lost multiple cattle to wolves. He asked why there is a limit of $8,000 reimbursement on a calf or cow that is killed from a wolf. Odell said that is the current proposal and he suggested that people comment to CPW on why this is concerning. Odell said Commissioner Dallas May said it should be on a case-by-case basis.
Native American lands were discussed, and what would happen if a wolf comes on that property. Tribes would develop their own mitigation and management plans.
Libbie Miller, Terrestrial Wildlife Biologist for CPW, updated the group on collars. One collar was put on the female in 2017. The male was collared and one of the pup/yearlings in February. That collar worked ten days and failed. They are getting better collars in the future. They have done many aerial flights and they can’t find the den. The pack had one gray male, one black female, and six black pups/yearlings. Miller said that it is “probable” that three of the black yearlings were “taken” in Wyoming in mid-October, meaning they were killed once they crossed the Wyoming border. She said there are photos that indicate there is a strong possibility of more wolves using the North Park area. They want to get more wolves collared so they know where they are. Everyone wants more information on what the wolves are doing in the North Park area. Please report any sightings of wolves.
“One of the ways that we monitor wolf activity across the state is through public reports, public sightings. And the bottom line is that you folks spend way more time out on the landscape than we do. And it can be something as simple as you happen to be driving home on Highway 40 over Rabbit Ears Pass and you happen to see what you believe is a wolf. Please take the time to get onto the online form and report that sighting. Because if you don’t report it, we won’t know that it was observed.”
That form is on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website. Search for the Wolf Sighting Form. CPW asks that you report from a computer as the form is not mobile friendly. Wolf Sighting Form
Miller said that on Nov. 25, they had reported sightings of two wolves near Sentinel, Colorado, another single wolf sighting, and then a sighting of four wolves. “At any given day, at any given time, you can see a wolf in North Park. They’re naturally migrating from Wyoming.”
Eric Bergman, Wildlife Researcher (Ungulates) for CPW, said they have been doing a 6-year moose study. There was no wolf predation on moose last winter. They are hoping to collar 80 moose cows this winter. Collars on the moose are bigger and more sturdy with stronger batteries. The captures will start in mid-January. Deep snow is best as it slows the moose down. Please reach out to Colorado Parks and Wildlife if you see a moose in Jackson County. There are a lot of moose in the Illinois Drain of Jackson County. Moose in Jackson County have a lower pregnancy rate but a higher calf survival rate.
Ellen Brandell, Wildlife Research Scientist with CPW, is the new wolf researcher for CPW. She started in May. She has worked on wolves in Montana for seven years. Projects include moose-calf survival, elk habitat, estimate of wolf abundance, and the effect of wolves on livestock, such as stress levels and movement rates. She hopes to put high-tech collars on cattle so they can read how they react when grazing and when wolves are around. They can read their stress responses. “Something like this could impact our compensation program.” Brandell says wolves are dispersing right now, looking for mates. Breeding pairs will be established in February, March, and April.
One rancher added that the draft plan needs to change the language from “financial assistance” to “financial reimbursement.” He said it should be financial reimbursement, “for what your animals destroyed.”
Finally, Kris Middledorf added that he knows this is painful and it comes at a cost. “But we are here to help. We want to work through these issues together. We want to earn your trust.”
Saturday’s meeting was organized by the North Park Stockgrowers Association.