Colorado Officials Approve Nearly $350K in Payouts to Ranchers for Wolf Depredation

In a saga that continues to roll on out in the west, Colorado Parks and Wildlife commissioners have approved substantial payments totaling over $343,000 to two Grand County ranchers as compensation for losses incurred due to wolf predation. The payout announcement comes just a couple of months after Colorado ranchers hurled over $580,000 worth of bills at the commission with hopes of repayment and delaying the pending 2025 wolf releases.

While the letter and claims did not deter officials from hastily releasing captured wolves and reintroducing more wolves from Canada, it does look as though the commission is trying to make right by affected ranchers.

Despite the goodwill, the truth remains that this significant payout has now pushed the Colorado Wolf Depredation Compensation Fund’s budget to its absolute limits.

Farrell Livestock, one of the affected ranchers, will receive a substantial sum of $287,407. This compensation is set to cover the loss of 15 cows that were killed by wolves in the spring of 2024. Additionally, the payment includes compensation for reduced conception rates and lower calf weight compared to the three years prior to the wolf attacks. 

The program, which is mandated by Colorado law, stipulates that the state must compensate livestock owners for any losses caused by gray wolves, encompassing not only direct deaths but also indirect impacts on livestock productivity.

“The request for payment on this is not a bonus to anybody, it’s simply trying to recover some of the costs that have been lost and actually should have been to these producers last fall,” CPW commission chairman Dallas May said.

Another rancher, Bruches and Sons, also received compensation for their wolf-related losses, with approved claims totaling $56,008.

The Wolf Depredation Compensation Fund, which is responsible for covering these payouts, had $350,000 allocated for 2024. This allocation was double the amount allocated in the previous year, reflecting the anticipated increase in compensation claims following the reintroduction of wolves in 2023. Since then, Colorado has approved a total of $348,906 in wolf compensation claims, including those approved on Wednesday, nearly exhausting the fund's budget for the year.

"These are large claims. I want to remind you all, and our public, that we are the only western state that does itemized claims, to my knowledge," said Director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife Jeff Davis. "That's not just paying for the lost animals. That's compensating for the impact of wolf presence and the interaction that affects weight gain and pregnancy loss."

All said, the financial burden of wolf reintroduction is far from over for the state of Colorado. Multiple compensation requests are still unresolved, including a substantial $112,000 claim from Farrell Livestock for potentially wolf-related missing livestock. This claim is particularly complex because the carcasses of the missing livestock were never recovered, making it challenging to definitively attribute the loss to wolf predation. These unresolved claims will likely be reviewed this summer, potentially placing further strain on the compensation fund's already limited resources.

Davis and other officials from CPW have stated that they are enlisting help from Colorado State University in an effort to standardize the livestock and depredation data. The hope is that the commission will be able to build out a more standardized process for payouts by the time the next damage claim season rolls around.

It seems likely they’ll need a bigger budget as well.