Tuesday, Apr. 30, 2024
Does Colorado help ranchers protect against wolves?
The state anticipated conflicts when Parks and Wildlife officials released five gray wolves onto public lands in Grand County in December to reestablish wolves in Colorado.
Lawmakers created a compensation fund offering up to $15,000 once Wildlife officials confirm wolves have killed livestock or working animals. Owners file a claim in which they can ask for the value of the animal or the production lost because of the killing.
Colorado law also requires Parks and Wildlife to help ranchers prevent and resolve conflicts. The state offers “a suite of non-lethal tools” and expertise, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Travis Duncan said in an email.
In 2024, state officials loaned out fox lights or motion-triggering scare lights at 11 properties. Last year, fladry — a line of bright red flags — was installed on five projects.
The state has purchased more than $74,000 worth of conflict minimization materials.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife Colorado Parks and Wildlife successfully releases gray wolves on Colorado’s Western Slope
- Colorado Legislature 33-2-105.8. Reintroduction of gray wolves on designated lands west of the continental divide – public input in commission development of restoration plan - compensation to owners of livestock - definitions.
- Colorado Legislature Wolf Depredation Compensation Fund
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan (Fall 2022)
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife Email response to The Colorado Sun
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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.
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The Colorado Sun is a journalist-founded, award-winning and nonprofit news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself. In this way, we believe we can contribute to a more vibrant, informed and whole Colorado. We are committed to fact-based, in-depth and nonpartisan journalism. We cover everything from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and education. Our goal is to produce the best possible journalism. We do that with the help of you, our readers, and community backers. We launched on Sept. 10, 2018.
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