Gov. Jared Polis’ disdain for the state’s ranchers was on full display last week at a meeting of Colorado Counties, Inc., where he placed the blame for the $5 million wolf restoration tab on ranchers.

Colorado Counties, Inc., is comprised of county commissioners from 63 of 64 counties, Denver being the exception. Gov. Jared Polis spoke to the group at their 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,” Polis 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.”

That comment, just before Polis — who was visibly angry — abruptly left the podium, was followed by the usual song and dance about carrying out the will of the voters. Lest he forget, paying compensation to ranchers for losses is also part of the law and at this point, it appears that is a piece of the puzzle that is still an unknown amount.

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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 CPW, 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.

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.

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.

Middle Park Stockgrowers president Tim Ritschard said their organization has several members eligible for compensation for direct and indirect losses, with multiple claims anticipated to be more than $100,000 and likely one producer with losses totaling more than $500,000. Notably, this is just one producer group with other producers in other areas also eligible for direct and indirect losses.

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.

The claims require multiple years of cattle production records, something most CPW staffers aren’t familiar with, nor should they have to be. Bringing in a third-party familiar with cattle production is another cost to be added to the tally.

In short, that $3,855.17 is about to be multiplied and Polis’ pet project is about to go off the fiscal rails. And that, too, is not the fault of ranchers.

Rachel Gabel writes about agriculture and rural issues. She is assistant editor of The Fence Post Magazine, the region’s preeminent agriculture publication. Gabel is a daughter of the state’s oil and gas industry and a member of one of the state’s 12,000 cattle-raising families, and she has authored children’s books used in hundreds of classrooms to teach students about agriculture.