By Shannon Lukens.
Three wolf-related bills have been introduced in the Colorado State Legislature by a bipartisan group of Western Slope legislators. The first is the 10J Rule Bill which would allow ranchers and Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers to have management flexibility, specifically lethal management if a wolf is attacking livestock or working ranch animals. The legislators want it official before wolves are set to be released on Dec. 31. If it isn’t, the release date could be delayed.
SB23-256 will be introduced first in the Colorado Senate. Sponsors are: Senators Perry Will, R-New Castle, and Dylan Roberts, D-Avon, and Representatives Meghan Lukens, D-Steamboat Springs, and Matt Soper, R-Delta.
Senator Perry Will from the Western Slope says there is strong bipartisan support, especially from the local co-sponsors of the bill, Senator Dylan Roberts and Representative Meghan Lukens.
“And Dylan’s got all the Ag Committee. And that’s bipartisan, the entire Ag Committee, he has as co-sponsors on this. And Dylan’s side of the aisle, there in the Senate, too, you’ll get a bunch of those. And I know Meghan’s got a bunch of them in the House have already signed on as co-sponsors, right?”
“Yes, for the 10J Bill, since my name’s on that, we have almost the entire Western Slope delegation signed on as co-sponsors, and then a few more rural colleagues as well, from the Eastern Slope.”
“And we’ll get the East Slope, too. I think Dylan already has them, actually. I think just rural Colorado, just in general. I think that anyone out in rural Colorado on the Eastern or Western Slope is going to jump on this and I’m sure we’ll get a few from the Front Range as well.”
The other bill is for a dedicated “wolf compensation fund” that will have $350,000 dollars a year in it, to reimburse livestock owners for any loss or injury of their animals from wolf attacks.
Sponsors are: Senators Perry Will, R-New Castle, and Dylan Roberts, D-Avon, House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, and Rep. Marc Catlin, R-Montrose.
The third bill is one where people can buy a new “Born to be Wild” specialty license plate where $50 from each plate goes to support ranchers using non-lethal methods of mitigation to deter wolves.
Sponsors are: Representative Meghan Lukens, D-Steamboat Springs and Representative Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, and Senators Perry Will, R-New Castle and Janice Marchman, D-Loveland.
Here’s Senator Dylan Roberts.
“This is something that we can do for our constituents who, like all of us, were opposed to the reintroduction of wolves but because it is state law, what we can do is stand up for our constituents to make sure they have the tools and the compensation to deal with the impacts of it.”
WESTERN SLOPE LEGISLATORS INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN BILLS TO MITIGATE WOLF REINTRODUCTION
The Southern Ute Tribe is asking that wolves not be reintroduced near the Brunot Area. That’s 3.7 million acres in the San Juan Mountains to which tribal members have hunting access. The tribe is a sovereign nation and Chairman Melvin Baker is asking Colorado Parks and Wildlife consider its requests accordingly.
As far as payback for depredation of an animal, Chairman Baker also said $8,000 per animal is too low. The cap should be raised to $15,000 per animal.
Baker asked the commission to release to the northern zone, along the I-70 corridor.
Here’s more from the Durango Herald.
THE SOUTHERN UTE TRIBE ASKS THAT CPW RELEASES WOLVES ALONG I-70 CORRIDOR
The Steamboat Springs School District is doing a survey on how people feel about a four-day school week. In the monthly newsletter home to parents, it says the Steamboat Springs Education Association approached the school district’s leadership team and Board of Education about possibly modifying the schedule from five days to four days a week. The survey is available in Spanish or English and the deadline is April 7. Anyone in the community is invited to fill it out.
The school year calendar for 2023-2024 is already approved. The results of the survey would be used to determine any next steps.
Area schools in Moffat County, Hayden, and Soroco are all on a four-day school week.
The Health Partnership is hosting a Lunch and Learn event at the Yampa Building in Craig Thursday. It’s at noon, March 30. It’s with support of the Rural Alliance Addressing Substance Use Disorder based out of Memorial Regional Hospital. It’s a way to educate businesses about being open to hiring and helping people in recovery. RSVP to ncashmore@ncchealthpartnership.org
The deadline to register for 15th Annual Cody’s Challenge is tomorrow, with the challenge on Saturday at Steamboat Resort. It’s a race up and down the slopes that supports ski patrollers. Register through Steamboat.com
Check out what’s happening in the Yampa Valley on the Community Calendar.
For the KRAI Time, Temp, and Weather Hotline, call 970-824-1918.