Colorado ranchers in Middle Park claim more than $582,000 in wolf-related livestock damage

Colorado Middle Park ranchers have filed claims totaling about $582,000 in wolf-related livestock losses, hoping the damage will help influence the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to stop new releases.

“We believe the commissioners need to have as much information as possible to make this decision,” said Tim Ritschard, a Grand County rancher and president of the Middle Park Cattlemen’s Association, in an email to the commission Tuesday.

Ritschard’s email contained three claims submitted to the agency in December totaling about $582,000.

The figure includes $18,411.71 in claims related to confirmed loss or injury to sheep and cattle, as well as $515 in veterinary costs for a calf necropsy. It also includes claims for indirect losses: $173,526.63 for missing livestock, $218,220.98 for reduced livestock weight, and $172,754.64 for reductions in births on ranches with confirmed wolf attacks or kills.

Two of the claims are directly related to the Copper Creek package, Ritschard told the Aspen Times. One of these claims amounts to more than $400,000 for a single operation in Grand County. The Copper Creek herd was captured and removed from Middle Park area at the end of August and beginning of September after being linked to multiple livestock deaths in the region.

“The financial damages associated with these three claims could have been much less if the agency had taken lethal action against some of the wolves,” Ritschard said in his email to the commission, referring to the situation with the Copper Creek pack.

The three claims alone exceed the $475,000 allocated to the state’s Wolf Depredation Compensation Fund, which received a transfer of $175,000 from the state’s general fund in fiscal year 2023-24 and $350,000 for 2024-25. the legislature created fund in 2023, providing a dedicated source to pay producers for the loss of livestock or work animals to wolves. The fund can also be used to minimize conflicts and manage programs.

Parks and Wildlife has other programs to compensate producers for losses caused by other big game wildlife, including bears and mountain lions.

If Parks and Wildlife exceeds the amount allocated to the wolf fund, it will pay claims from the “most appropriate source available,” according to Travis Duncan, the agency’s public information officer. This could include the state general fund, species conservation trust, Colorado wildlife and conservation cash fund, or wildlife cash fund (fueled by hunting and fishing licenses), he added.

“We are sending this information ahead of the January (Parks and Wildlife Commission) meeting to make sure they are aware of the magnitude of the claims pending before the division,” Ritschard said, adding that more claims are likely pending. that the association does not know.

Since the reintroduction of wolves, the state has paid claims totaling $3,855 for three depredation incidents in 2024, according to Parks and Wildlife. document tracking confirmed events.

As of Jan. 2, the agency has confirmed a total of 17 wolf depredation incidents involving livestock in 2024. Aside from the three paid claims, only one incident in Grand County in April is listed as having a pending claim, and all others reported no complaints. has been presented.

By state statuteParks and Wildlife has 30 days after filing a claim to meet with the producer and try to reach an agreement. Duncan said Thursday, Jan. 2, that the depredation document will be “updated in the coming days as recent submissions are processed.”

The agency expected to see additional applications by the end of the year, as producers had until Dec. 31 to submit applications for 2024, Duncan added.

Ritschard told the Vail Daily there were several reasons why the claims were not filed until December. For most livestock operations, it takes time to collect the data needed to understand impacts, including calf sales (including animal weighing) and monitoring of pregnant cattle, both of which occur in the final months of the year.

“Like most commercial operations, (livestock operations) start closing their books at the end of the calendar year, and between shipping and checking pregnancies, we can calculate the numbers left in the calving season,” Ritschard said. . “Operations doesn’t know which cattle are missing until we can get a really good count on them, and usually that happens during shipping and pregnancy checks.”

Ranchers say it’s another reason to pause

The Middle Park organization is one of 26 groups that have asked the commission to suspend reintroduction efforts until more measures can be implemented to minimize conflict between livestock and wolves. Parks and wildlife staff recommended to the commission to deny the request in your January 8 meetingclaiming that it has already addressed the seven requests described in the petition.

Ritschard wrote in his email this week that Middle Park producers “do not believe these show deficiencies have been addressed.”

He added that while programs addressing the seven requests are in process, “they are not implemented and cannot be implemented before the calving season.”

“We believe the process within the agency continues to fail to recognize what is happening on the ground,” Ritschard said. “Not having all elements of the program in place before wolves are introduced is not only unfair to wolves and livestock producers, but has significant state budget implications.”

Ritschard told the Vail Daily he expects claims to continue piling up until all programs are up and running.

“This is a whole new world for us here in Colorado,” he said. “Other states have been dealing with wolves for much longer than we have and have costs and expenses that are still accruing to producers, so this will never go away.”

Could Colorado cut funding for wolves?

In the last four years since voters approved ballot measure to bring wolves back to Coloradothe state has spent about $5 million to implement the initiative. However, as Colorado looks for ways to cut about $1 billion from its budget, the Joint Budget Committee has It was questioned whether the wolf program is a place where money could be saved..

TO Joint Budget Committee Staff Nov. 21 Analysis suggested that it might be appropriate to reduce the general fund allocation for wolf reintroduction, currently set at $2.1 million annually, as well as make cuts to the Wolf Depredation Compensation Fund.

The analysis suggests reducing the allocation from $350,000 to $175,000 for next year, as the fund has not been fully utilized. In 2023-24, Parks and Wildlife received three claims totaling $3,203 from a total of 12 reported incidents. If costs are similar next year, the analysis states that “the fund is unlikely to use the entire allocation.”

On the other hand, he noted that if claims were spent up to the maximum compensation ($15,000 per animal), it would be unlikely that the fund would cover these costs.

At a committee hearing on Dec. 11, Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis told the commission that the agency would have a better idea “in the next month, as those claims are reflected in how “They see those costs,” including indirect losses due to the presence of wolves on the landscape.

Compensation Options for Producers in Colorado

Once Parks and Wildlife confirms wolf predation on a ranch, state statute maintains that the producer can be reimbursed the fair market value (based on the age, weight and type of the animal) up to $15,000 per animal. Additional reimbursements of up to $15,000 per animal may be paid for veterinary costs.

On ranches where cattle or sheep graze in large, open environments and it is difficult to locate carcasses due to geography, the statute provides ratios to compensate producers for the loss of livestock, as well as for indirect losses such as decreased weaning weight, decreased conception rates and more. . There must still be confirmed predation for producers to be entitled to this compensation.

Producers may be eligible for higher compensation rates based on whether conflict minimization techniques were implemented. For detailed losses, which include indirect losses, producers must provide Parks and Wildlife with three years of records showing that losses increased with the added pressure of having wolves in the field.

Parks and Wildlife area wildlife managers can approve claims of less than $5,000. A regional manager can approve any value between $5,000 and $20,000. However, any claim that exceeds $20,000 and for which the agency recommends payment must be approved by the commission.