By Shannon Lukens.

 

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission has been meeting in Meeker for two days. Friday morning, a Wolf Update was on the agenda.

Deputy Director Reid Dewalt gave a presentation. Here is that presentation.

 

Dewalt updated that one wolf pup has been seen by the pair of wolves in Grand County. The area of their den and rendezvous spot is remote with a lot of deadfall.

 

He told of the gathering at the Gittleson Ranch in Jackson County in June, which was organized by Steamboat Radio News, along with Senator Dylan Roberts and State Representative Meghan Lukens. It included ranchers, CPW, media, and state legislators.

 

Dewalt said over 6,200 Born to be Wild license plates have been sold for over $300K in revenue. It will be used for preventative and deterrent measures for wolves.

 

Dewalt also spent a good amount of time on the new ad-hoc working group that has been formed. Here are the members:

 

• Phillip Anderson from Jackson County
• Paul Bruchez from Grand County
• Steve Raftopoulos from Moffat County
• Lenny Klinglesmith from Rio Blanco County
• Courtney Vail, Board Chair and Community Outreach Advisor with the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project
• Eric Washburn, wolf advocate and big game hunter from Steamboat Springs
• Veronica Yovovich, Rangeland Wildlife Conflict Specialist
• Jeff Davis, Director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife
• Reid Dewalt, Deputy Director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife
• Eric Odell, Technical expert with Colorado Parks and Wildlife
• Dustin Chiflett with Colorado Department of Agriculture
• NW Region Regional Manager Travis Black

 

(15:30) Dewalt also said, “There is support for the long-term success of the reintroduction program. From advocates, producers, and wildlife experts alike, we have heard that minimizing losses to livestock is crucial to building co-existence and long-term success. The work group’s discussions have been focused on this goal.”

 

(15:54) He said, “The group has talked extensively about how to promote and scale up non-lethal measures while providing certain needs to producers that if these are used effectively and are not effective, so for example if a wolf continues to depredate in the absence of anything that would attract it, that CPW should consider lethal removal as authorized by the plan.” He added he expects a lot more discussion on that.

 

Dewalt said CPW needs to do more going forward to insure proactive communications with and preparedness of ranching communities where wolves will be released.

 

(17:00) He emphasized that CPW needs to do a better job of communicating with ranchers and their communities after a depredation occurs. “Events this April taught us that despite best and good faith efforts, it is easy for communications to fall short and for significant mistrust to develop.” Dewalt said this is a major priority for CPW going forward. He feels the working group can help.

 

Merrit Linke is the vice president of the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association, where seven calves were killed by wolves in 40 days. Linke is skeptical of the ad-hoc group.

“I’m skeptical about the purpose and mission of this ad-hoc committee. If they’re not a recommending body and they’re not going to make changes to the plan, I’m just questioning what the purpose of this committee is. One of the comments that Reid said was that this committee is going to help them to understand and facilitate and implement the plan. Well, it seems like it’s pretty clear about chronic depredating wolves and they’re not following the plan anyway. So I guess I’m wondering what the outcome is going to be once this committee’s work is done. What is the final end game when this committee is finished? What is going to be the outcome? I’m just really skeptical about what the purpose and mission is.”

We also told Linke about a new sheep kill in Grand County, as reported by Colorado Parks and Wildlife after the wolf update on the Confirmed Gray Wolf Depredation Information page. The new listing says, “July 17, 2024. Grand County. No claim submitted. 1 sheep involved.” He had not yet heard about it. We asked for more details today from Rachael Gonzales, the Northwest Region Public Information Officer for CPW, and she wrote, “We are not going to release any additional information outside of what has been provided on the depredation website.”

We spoke with Eric Washburn who is on the newly formed working group. He said he is a wolf advocate from Steamboat Springs. He says the group has met twice, in person, and they will have one more meeting this month. He says it is a good dynamic and has been a good dialogue and discussion. He said he will have to speak with CPW further to get permission to provide any more comments.

 

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis also spoke to the commission, after public comment.

“This restoration effort has not been easy on anybody. Listening to the public comments, listening to the great people we have working with us in the ad-hoc group, it’s become pretty obvious to me that we as a species are pretty gifted at falling into our positions and pointing fingers. As a public servant my entire career, always striving to provide good governance. And good governance means everyone’s position is what government needs to own and create solutions by bringing people together. This isn’t a political speech. This is about wolf restoration and people.

I want to say I hear a lot, like ‘Ranchers aren’t using non-lethals.’ Not true. We have a lot of really amazing people that ranch that are absolutely working their tails off with non-lethals. Is that everybody? No. But we’re also really new into restoration and I suspect or hypothesize that as those ranchers who are successful at deploying non-lethals share within their communities their success that we’ll see growth in acceptance for non-lethals.

I personally struggle because urban people need rural people and rural people need urban people and this urban-rural divide really, to be frank, sucks, from a public servant perspective.

I’m just hoping that maybe in all of this, we’ll come out of it stronger and really truly listening to understand one another. I’ll say I’m not a rancher. I look to our ranchers who do this on a day-to-day basis to educate me about how they do their operations. What works and what doesn’t work? What are the risks and uncertainties?

Similarly on the wildlife side.

I believe if we can actually listen to understand, and have some empathy and operate within humility, we will come out of this way stronger than what we went into it for. I just want to say that because it can be polarizing in these public comments and in the public engagement and that’s not going to help our ranchers and it’s not going to help the wolf restoration in my experience.

I don’t intend to have this sound like a lecture just to share a lifetime public servant’s perspective.”

 

Commission Director Dallas May and member Marie Haskett responded.

“Thank you, Director Davis. I would comment that Proposition 114 had very specific language, and that was crafted in order to be clear and be clearly defined. And part of Prop. 114 was that there would be no land use restrictions and all losses to livestock producers would be covered. That’s how the proposition went forward to the ballot. And once 33-2-105.8 was a statute, that is now what this commission was charged with when we developed the wolf plan. We worked for three years to develop that wolf plan. We had no intention of changing the rules in the middle of the road. So we are working within those parameters. Yes, we have adaptive management and we intend to use adaptive management but we’re working within a framework that all of us have been working within in order to make this the most successful. I feel like we are been doing that. I appreciate the criticism and advice but I think that we’re working within that realm and hopefully we’ll continue to do so. I appreciate your comments, Director Davis.”

Commissioner Haskett…

“Thank you, Chairman May. Thank you for your comments Director Davis. I appreciate that. I will say that I’m tired of hearing that ranchers don’t use non-lethal. You’re not the person out there that has to live with this. Non-lethal doesn’t work in every circumstance and it’s also very cumbersome and very expensive. We need to work together in all of this and not point fingers.”

 

Public Comment also was part of the agenda. Gary Skiba spoke. He is the Wildlife Program Manager for the San Juan Citizens Alliance and also a member of the Board of Directors of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project. That is the group that got Proposition 114 Wolf Reintroduction on the ballot, and was instrumental in getting it passed. He says after the election they shifted their focus to work on co-existence between wolves and livestock owners.

Skiba says they created the Born to Be Wild license plate. He said CPW has received $300,000 because of the sale of that license plate. He expects that number to double in sales by the end of the year.

Here are Gary Skiba’s comments. He said they are continuing to be involved in conflict reduction.

 

Steamboat Radio News Past Coverage of wolves in Colorado

• July 12, 2024 — Two more head of cattle die from wolves in Routt County (Facebook)
• June 27, 2024 — MIDDLE PARK STOCKGROWERS TO RECEIVE MORE $$ SUPPORT FOR NON-LETHAL WOLF DETERRENTS
• June 20, 2024 — WOLF PUP CONFIRMED IN GRAND COUNTY
  June 19, 2024 — CPW CONFIRMS SOUTH ROUTT WOLF KILL
• June 17, 2024 — PRODUCER REPORTS SUSPECTED WOLF KILL IN SOUTH ROUTT COUNTY 
• June 16, 2024 —  CPW DIRECTOR JEFF DAVIS ANSWERS QUESTIONS AT JACKSON COUNTY GATHERING 
• June 13, 2024 —  CPW TO FORM WORKING GROUP REGARDING WOLF RESTORATION
• June 12, 2024 — NORTH PARK PRODUCER WHO LOSES CALF SPEAKS OUT
• June 10, 2024 — CPW CONFIRMS ANOTHER WOLF DEPREDATION IN JACKSON COUNTY THIS WEEKEND
• June 5, 2024 — Wolf Video posted from Grand County
• May 26, 2024 —  DON GITTLESON SAYS ANOTHER CALF HAS BEEN KILLED BY WOLVES ON HIS RANCH 
• May 15, 2024 — HERE’S THE LATEST LETTER TO MIDDLE PARK STOCKGROWERS FROM CPW DIRECTOR DAVIS 
• May 14, 2024 — Suspected mountain lion kills the collared wolf
• May 6, 2024 — MIDDLE PARK STOCKGROWERS SEND EIGHT-PAGE LETTER TO CPW
• April 30, 2024 — GRAND COUNTY RANCHERS TO GET HELP WITH PROTECTING THEIR LIVESTOCK
• April 30, 2024 — NORTH PARK STOCKGROWERS SEND ANOTHER LETTER TO CPW AND GOV. POLIS
• April 28, 2024 —ANOTHER WOLF KILL IN GRAND COUNTY SUNDAY
• April 24-2024 —  COLLARED GRAY WOLF ACTIVITY MAP RELEASED FOR APRIL
• April 23, 2024 — A WOLF HAS DIED, AND MIDDLE PARK STOCKGROWERS HEAR FROM CPW
• April 22, 2024 —  MULTIPLE LETTERS SENT TODAY TO GOVERNOR POLIS AND CPW ASKING FOR ACTION ON WOLVES
• April 18, 2024 —  FOUR MORE HEAD OF LIVESTOCK KILLED BY WOLVES IN GRAND COUNTY
• April 9, 2024 — AG PRODUCERS MEET WITH CPW OFFICIALS IN KREMMLING ABOUT WOLVES
• April 8, 2024 — ANOTHER CALF KILLED BY A WOLF OR WOLVES IN JACKSON COUNTY
• April 3, 2024 — A WOLF OR WOLVES HAVE KILLED A NEWBORN CALF IN GRAND COUNTY
• April 3, 2024 —  Denver 7  Calf killed in first confirmed report of gray wolf depredation since wolves were released in December
• Feb. 29, 2024 — COLORADO PARKS AND WILDLIFE OFFICIALS COME TO STEAMBOAT SPRINGS TO TALK WOLVES
•  Jan. 30, 2024 — CPW SENDS UPDATE ON WOLF SIGHTINGS SINCE 2004, AND MORE ON THE MAP
• Jan. 24, 2024  — ELECTED OFFICIALS GRILL DEPT. OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND CPW AT HEARING WEDNESDAY
• Jan. 22, 2024 — CPW GETS HARSH LETTER DEMANDING ANSWERS FROM ROBERTS AND MCCLUSKIE
• Jan. 19, 2024 — COLORADO’S NEXT WOLVES TO BE REINTRODUCED WILL BE FROM TRIBAL LANDS IN WASHINGTON
• Jan. 12, 2024 — CPW CONFIRMS WOLVES WERE IN SOUTH ROUTT BUT AREN’T (YET) IN MOFFAT
• Dec. 22, 2023 — FIVE MORE WOLVES ARE RELEASED BY COLORADO PARKS AND WILDLIFE
• Dec. 22, 2023 — CPW DENIES GITTLESON’S REQUEST TO IMPLEMENT 10(J) RULE ON JACKSON COUNTY WOLVES
• Dec. 21, 2023 — THREE OF THE FIVE WOLVES RELEASED IN COLORADO WERE IN PACKS THAT KILLED OR INJURED LIVESTOCK IN OREGON
• Dec. 19, 2023 — LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS RECEIVE WOLF UPDATE FROM CPW IN CRAIG MONDAY
• Dec. 13, 2023 — GITTLESON SAYS ANOTHER CALF WAS ATTACKED BY A WOLF TODAY
• Dec. 11, 2023 — COMPLAINT FILED IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT TO STOP WOLF REINTRODUCTION IN COLORADO
• Dec. 4, 2023 — KEEP YOUR PETS CLOSE AND CARRY A BIG STICK – CPW HAS ADVICE FOR LIVING WITH WOLVES
• Nov. 19, 2023 — THREE LAMBS KILLED BY A WOLF IN JACKSON COUNTY, SAYS RANCHER
• Nov. 17, 2023 – CPW AND CDA ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT TO WORK TOGETHER ON WOLF REINTRODUCTION
• Nov. 7, 2023 – U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SETS DATE FOR 10J RULE FOR WOLVES
• Oct. 6, 2023 – COLORADO WILL RECEIVE WOLVES FROM OREGON
• May 16, 2023 –  POLIS VETOES 10J RULE WOLF BILL
• May 3, 2023 – CPW COMMISSION APPROVES FINAL WOLF RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN 
• May 2, 2023 – MANAGEMENT OF GRAY WOLVES REINTRODUCTION BILL PASSES IN STATE HOUSE
• May 2, 2023 –CPW MEETS THIS WEEK FOR FINAL WOLF MANAGEMENT PLAN 
• April 27, 2023 – CPW CONFIRMS WOLF SIGHTING EAST OF KREMMLING
• April 8, 2023 – CPW WOLF COMMISSION MEETS IN STEAMBOAT SPRINGS 
• April 3, 2023 – CPW TO PRESENT FINAL DRAFT WOLF RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN IN STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
• March 28, 2023 – THE SOUTHERN UTE TRIBE ASKS THAT CPW RELEASES WOLVES ALONG I-70 CORRIDOR
• March 15, 2023 – TWO DOGS DIE FROM WOLVES IN JACKSON COUNTY THIS WEEK
• March 3, 2023 –COLORADO PARKS AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION RELEASES WOLF REINTRODUCTION MEETING RECAP 
• Feb. 21, 2023 —WOLF 2101 RECAPTURED AND RECOLLARED IN JACKSON COUNTY
• Feb. 21, 2023 —10J RULE MEETINGS WITH REGARDS TO WOLVES SCHEDULED FOR NW COLORADO BY US FISH AND WILDLIFE
• Jan. 17, 2023 —STATE LEGISLATORS HEAR MORE ON WOLF REINTRODUCTION AT JOINT COMMITTEE HEARING
• Dec. 13, 2022 —MORE WOLVES VISIT GITTLESON PROPERTY IN JACKSON COUNTY THIS WEEK
• Dec. 12, 2022 —NORTH PARK RANCHERS MEET WITH CPW REGARDING WOLF REINTRODUCTION PLAN
• Dec. 10, 2022 —CPW RELEASES DRAFT COLORADO WOLF RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN
• Nov. 19, 2022 —ANOTHER WOLF ATTACK REPORTED IN JACKSON COUNTY
• Oct. 9, 2022 —WOLVES ATTACK CALVES IN RIO BLANCO AND JACKSON COUNTIES
• July 14, 2022 —CPW UPDATES THE WOLF PACK IN JACKSON COUNTY
• June 20, 2022 ––WOLF MANAGEMENT DISCUSSED AT MEETING IN WALDEN
• June 15, 2022 —WOLVES IN NORTH PARK ARE SUBJECT AT MEETING MONDAY, JUNE 20
• May 30, 2022 —THE GITTLESON RANCH LOSES ANOTHER CALF TO WOLVES, THEY SAY
• May 5, 2022 —AT LEAST TWO MORE CALVES KILLED BY WOLVES ON GITTLESON RANCH
• May 10, 2022 ––THIRD CALF DIES ON JACKSON COUNTY RANCH; CPW DOES NECROPSY
• April 11, 2022 —A NEW LITTER OF WOLF PUPS IS EXPECTED IN JACKSON COUNTY
• March 17, 2022 —WOLVES ATTACK ANOTHER DOMESTIC COW IN JACKSON COUNTY
• Feb. 10, 2022 – MONTANA STOCKGROWERS VOICE SUPPORT FOR COLORADO RANCHERS OVER THE WOLVES
• Feb. 9, 2022 – WOLF MANAGEMENT DISCUSSED BY LOCAL RANCHERS AND OFFICIALS AT FORUM IN STEAMBOAT
• Jan. 22, 2022 – WOLF MITIGATION OPTIONS
• Jan. 19, 2022 – ANOTHER COW KILLED OVERNIGHT IN NORTH PARK BY WOLVES
• Jan. 18, 2022 – TWO MORE COWS ATTACKED BY WOLVES IN JACKSON COUNTY TUESDAY
• Jan. 12, 2022 – CPW ALLOWS WOLVES TO BE HAZED IN EMERGENCY DECLARATION
• Jan. 10, 2022 – A WOLF PACK KILL IS REPORTED IN JACKSON COUNTY OVER THE WEEKEND
• June 9, 2021 – WOLF DEN WITH PUPS CONFIRMED IN NW COLORADO