Polis blames ranchers for high cost of wolf restoration at recent meeting

The state of Colorado is facing a $1 billion deficit in the 2025-26 budget, and as cuts are considered, Gov. Jared Polis placed the blame for the $5 million wolf restoration on ranchers.

Colorado Counties Inc. is comprised of county commissioners from 63 of 64 counties, Denver being the exception. Polis spoke to the group at its meeting earlier this week, and when asked about pausing upcoming wolf releases until a more cost-effective route than sourcing from Canada could be identified, the governor pointed the finger at ranchers.

“This could have cost a lot less if ranchers wouldn’t have said, ‘Oh, don’t get them from Wyoming, don’t get them from Idaho.’ We probably could have done it for a quarter of the cost there, and there’s still time,” he said. “Ranchers, I mean, if their organizations — Middle Park and those guys — say to Wyoming, ‘Give Colorado wolves,’ they probably would. The only reason they’re not is they hear from ranchers that they shouldn’t, so that drives up the cost.”

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To date, depredation compensation claims paid in 2024 total $3,855.17 on three confirmed depredations, one of which was in Elbert County in eastern Colorado and not attributable to the released wolves. There are 13 confirmations involving 23 head of livestock that have not been submitted for compensation.

According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, claimants must file claim paperwork within 90 days of the agency’s receipt of the claimant’s last notice of loss. The claimant may also elect to delay filing their claim up to Dec. 31 for the year when losses occurred.

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If a depredation is confirmed, the rancher has several options. Owners can be reimbursed the fair market value of the animal, up to $15,000, and can also receive reimbursement of veterinarian costs for the treatment of injured livestock or guard/herding animals, up to $15,000.

 Compensation options

Once a confirmed wolf depredation occurs to cattle or sheep in large, open-range settings where topography and vegetation make it difficult to confirm depredations in a timely manner, livestock owners will have two compensation options:

• A Basic Compensation Ratio option, which provides compensation for missing calves or sheep in larger open range settings and may also cover some production losses.
• An Itemized Production Losses option, which provides compensation for missing calves and sheep as well as indirect losses including decreased weaning weights, decreased conception rates and other indirect losses on a case-by-case basis.

Grand County Commissioner Merrit Linke estimates that loss claims in Grand County alone could total $250,000 for production losses. He said he anticipates producers will submit claims as the end of the year nears, though he said some ranchers fear retribution once their identity is made publicly available. He said some ranchers have documented various pro-wolf activists trespassing and even harassing family members. Legislation to exclude from public records the name and contact information of ranchers paid for depredations is anticipated in the upcoming legislative session.

Anticipated claims

Middle Park Stockgrowers President Tim Ritschard said the organization has several members eligible for compensation for direct and indirect losses, with multiple claims anticipated to be over $100,000 and likely one producer with losses totaling more than $500,000. In Ritschard’s own cowherd, for example, he said weaning weights were steady, but reproduction failure rates were twice what they were last year, and those open cows were primarily located in pastures near wolf activity.

He said the claims require three years of herd records and will be time consuming to sift through for Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff, possibly requiring a third-party familiar with cattle records. Just as Polis has clarified that the release is required by law, paying compensation is also required by law.

The Joint Budget Committee also considered cuts to either compensation for wolf depredations or pausing the releases, a move they say would be $2.1 million in the coming fiscal year.

In October, Colorado Counties members voted unanimously to ask Parks and Wildlife to pause wolf releases scheduled for December. One of its key concerns was the expense of the restoration.

Colorado Counties said while Proposition 114 originally estimated the program’s costs at $800,000 annually, it has already required $5 million to date, and current funding levels remain insufficient. Given the status of the state budget, it seems unlikely that the funding challenges will be resolved this fiscal year.

Colorado Counties told the state agency it appreciates that counties across Colorado recognize the need for more resources and believes the wildlife agency should be provided increased funding to most effectively manage this complex initiative.

Counties that Parks and Wildlife has identified as future release sites include Pitkin, Eagle, and Garfield.

Pitkin County — home of the Aspen ski community — is the only county of the three that voted in favor of wolf restoration. However, wolves must be released either on state or private property, and without state land in Pitkin County, the agency will need a private landowner to agree, something it couldn’t find in the initial releases.