A common issue among Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials and ranchers last year was the state’s slow response to investigating livestock-killing wolves and how a lack of training led to poor decisions. That’s what it was.
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission last week rejected a staff recommendation to deny a claim for a calf killed by a wolf at Silver Spool Ranch near Walden. Instead, the commission voted to approve the payment and ordered the Wildlife Service to reverse its initial decision that no wolves were killed.
The commission rejected the staff recommendation on a 5-4 vote and approved the payment as well.
State law allows for up to $15,000 per livestock for depredation claims. This is the first time a claim denial by CPW staff has been denied.
Commissioners who voted in favor of paying compensation cited the age of a calf killed by a wolf on the Silver Spur Ranch property last May. Nick Hadary, an attorney representing Silver Spur, told the commission on Oct. 3 that the calf was 3 months old, as CPW’s Jackson County District Wildlife Warden Jacob Way claimed. , said it’s not a calf that would be attacked by a coyote.
Hadary said CPW officials did not follow agency rules in the claims process, raising questions about how much CPW officials knew about conducting wolf depredation investigations.
CPW’s Luke Hoffman said the claim was denied under CPW regulations. These regulations require applicants to prove by overwhelming evidence that a wolf killed the calf.
He said the calf was mostly eaten by the time it was a month old, making it difficult for Wei to investigate. There were also small puncture wounds about an inch apart. A coyote weighing 20 to 30 pounds has this distance between its teeth, while a wolf’s teeth are 1.5 inches to 2 inches apart. This supports coyote depredation and wolf depredation, Hoffman said.
He also noted coyote tracks near the carcass. After completing his investigation, Wei offered the ranch the carcass so they could conduct an independent investigation or get a second opinion, but the ranch refused.
Hoffman also disputed claims, including those made in public comment minutes earlier, that CPW staff do not know what wolf depredation looks like and are not adequately trained to investigate. chanted.
“This goes against what CPW has been working diligently to do for the last several years,” Hoffman said. “CPW has many highly skilled CPW staff members who understand the differences between coyotes, wolves and big game predators. They serve the communities they work with.”
Hadary noted that Silver Spur has ranches in four states and is an active partner with the states. This includes allowing the state access to private lands for logging and other state land management needs. Approximately 140,000 acres of Silver Spur land is enrolled in the state’s Wildlife Ranching Program, which allows private land to be used for hunting and wildlife management. Hadary said the company is one of the top 10 cow and calf producers in the country, adding that it has a long history of working with states, including CPW.
Silver Spurs Ranch dates back to the 19th century. They are now owned by telecommunications pioneer John Malone, who acquired them in the 1980s.
The application was submitted on May 8, but staff allegedly rejected it, so Wei asked him to resubmit it on a different date. “We felt that was inappropriate. They should have just processed the application as it was submitted,” Hadary said.
Hadary said in a May 10 phone conversation that Way indicated he intended to follow up on all evidence and investigative materials examined by CPW. Hadary said she never heard from Way again.
A month later, Hadary said, the ranch received a letter dated June 10 denying the claims and citing regulations but failing to explain how those regulations applied to the claims. said.
“It’s up to you to figure it out,” Hadary characterized the letter as telling them. No information was included regarding the basis for denial.
Mr. Hadary denied Mr. Hoffman’s claim that CPW provided the carcass to the ranch for an independent investigation. Mr Hadary said it would have been inappropriate if it had been provided to employees on the premises, but it should have been provided through him. Despite requests for evidence, it was not provided.
Once they had it, they tried to find a biologist to do an autopsy. “Most biologists with wolf expertise don’t seem to want to help ranchers,” Hadary said.
Hadary noted that CPW regulations require local wildlife managers to consult with claimants within 30 days of receiving a claim for settlement. That also never happened, Hadary said, adding: “There was no effort made to meet with us other than to come here today.”
Wolf or coyote?
Regarding the claim itself, he said there were clear signs that a wolf was present on the carcass. There were 4-inch footprints near the carcass, which CPW did not dispute, although Wey cautioned against calling them wolf tracks, Hadary said.
Although reports say coyotes killed the calves and wolves ate the carcasses, Silver Spur believes the exact opposite is true. Hadary said the ranch’s claims are based on experience. Wolves are predators, while coyotes are opportunistic scavengers. And despite raising cattle on 1 million acres, he said the ranch has never had a coyote attack a healthy calf. The calf weighed more than 100 pounds and was at least 2 to 3 months old. Coyotes attack weakened calves, not healthy calves, he added.
Mr Hadary said Mr Way was unable to determine in his report how the calf died, despite what Mr Hadary called two key pieces of evidence that suggested plunder by big gamers. He claimed there was no evidence. The coyote approaches the carcass. This suggests a wolf killed the calf and a coyote dragged it away, he said.
Another piece of evidence is the information in the report regarding bite marks. Although the report stated the bite marks were an inch apart, Hadary said photos showed the bite marks were larger. He looked for information on dog bites and found a 2018 study that found coyotes, wolves, and even foxes overlap in size.
“This does not conclusively prove that these are not wolf bite marks or coyote bite marks,” he said.
Hadary said this is not a test case or an effort to make a political point about wolves.
He said “we need to know what the evidence is” that a wolf attacked the calf, and if wolf tracks and bite marks aren’t enough, ranchers need further guidance from CPW. He added.
Hoffman countered that there was “no significant bleeding” on the calf’s carcass and that footprints alone were not sufficient. He told the commission that the best information CPW uses is the actual damage to the carcass, and sometimes there isn’t enough damage on a carcass to indicate it’s a wolf.
He also shared concerns raised by a Jackson County rancher who made similar claims about CPW staff’s inexperience earlier in the meeting.
Hadary said the case shows the concerns of ranchers. By the time CPW reaches the carcass, which can be several days later, scavengers have disposed of what remains. In the case of the Silver Spur calf, all that was left was the bone.
Commissioner Murphy-Robinson raised Mr. Hadary’s concerns about CPW not following its process. Robinson said he looked at the report and could not find where CPW gave the required notice or held settlement discussions.
Hoffman said the settlement was not warranted because the claims were dismissed and CPW complied with regulations.
Mr. Hadary said the rules required a settlement conference and disputed Mr. Hoffman’s claim that the carcass was provided to the ranch.
Commissioner Jay Touchton defended CPW’s recommendations, saying CPW did a fair job of evaluating the evidence and said he trusted the judgment of its staff, not the committee’s.
However, committee members who are ranchers pointed out that the staff’s recommendations were inconsistent with their experience with raising cattle. That included Commissioner Dallas May, who was appointed to the commission in August, and Commissioner Ty Jacober of Carbondale.
Jacober said a coyote wouldn’t take down a 3-month-old calf. Prime Minister Theresa May said going against CPW staff was “painful” but the evidence told her something different. He believes coyote tracks are a sign of scavenging and said he has never lost a healthy calf to a coyote.
Mr Robinson, who agreed with Mr May, was also concerned about the process, particularly the lack of documentation regarding the settlement and other issues raised by Mr Hadary.
Silver Spur’s claims are not listed on CPW’s wolf depredation website. According to the website, two claims were paid in 2024, the highest being $1,514 for a calf killed in Jackson County in April.
At least 17 cattle and eight sheep have been killed by wolves since they were reintroduced in Jackson and Grand counties in 2024 and into Colorado last December. But ranchers said at an Oct. 3 meeting that number will likely double.
The website link providing more information about these claims is not working.
