{"id":29965,"date":"2023-12-29T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cpw-says-it-will-not-kill-wolves-after-attacks-on-north-park-ranchers-cattle\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:07:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:07:41","slug":"cpw-says-it-will-not-kill-wolves-after-attacks-on-north-park-ranchers-cattle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cpw-says-it-will-not-kill-wolves-after-attacks-on-north-park-ranchers-cattle\/","title":{"rendered":"CPW says it will not kill wolves after attacks on North Park rancher\u2019s cattle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Kim
Kim Gittleson, center, witnesses the investigation by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife district managers into a heifer killed by wolves that had migrated from Wyoming. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

After years of discussion and a formal letter asking for help, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has denied rancher Don Gittleson\u2019s request for the agency to kill two wolves that have been preying on cattle on his Jackson County ranch.<\/p>\n

Gittleson on Dec. 13 sent a letter to the agency requesting the lethal removal of the wolves, \u201cso that they do not continue to affect the livelihood and mental well-being of the agriculture members of this state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since December 2021, one of the wolves \u2013 No. 2101 \u2013 has killed or injured seven of Gittleson\u2019s cows, including a calf last week, six of his neighbor\u2019s cows and four working dogs. The other wolf \u2013 No. 2103 \u2013 killed three lambs at rancher Philip Anderson\u2019s place. Both ranches are in North Park.<\/p>\n

In his letter, Gittleson asserted the agency intentionally chose not to define what a \u201chabitual depredating wolf\/wolf pack is\u201d and implored CPW \u201cto stop talking and start managing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the Colorado Wolf Management Plan, a rancher can kill a wolf if they discover it \u201cchronically depredating\u201d their livestock, or if they are in an act of self defense or defense of human life. But the plan does not clearly define what makes a wolf \u201cchronically depredating,\u201d and says wildlife officials will make that determination on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n

On Dec. 22, the agency determined it would not lethally remove the wolves chronically depredating on Gittleson\u2019s cattle.<\/p>\n

The reasoning in the letter, written by CPW director Jeff Davis, is that after considering the entire history of depredation events in Gittleson\u2019s region, including the most recent ones in November and December, and considering \u201cthe change in pack dynamics over the preceding year when most of the pack left the area and did not return,\u201d the \u201cnumber and frequency of [depredations] has dropped.\u201d<\/p>\n

During an interview with The Colorado Sun, Kim Gittleson, who owns the Gittleson ranch with her husband, Don, expressed frustration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey tell us to reach out for help with mitigation, but in the year when we had the most problems (2022), we brought in donkeys, we brought horned cattle, we had fladry, we had cracker shells, we had so many things,\u201d she said. \u201cIn addition, we spent every night from January through the end of May (physically present with their herd, protecting it). So I\u2019m not sure what else they think we should be doing\u201d to keep the wolves from depredating at their ranch.<\/p>\n

In the letter from CPW, Davis said the agency \u201cwill continue to monitor the situation and collaborate with other ranchers in Jackson County and across the state to evaluate future actions.\u201d He encouraged the Gittlesons to continue using the tools Kim mentioned and to collaborate with their local CPW staff.<\/p>\n

But Kim said, \u201cAt every CPW meeting, we hear about how understaffed they are. But my husband runs 11,000 acres (on land leased from the Colorado State Land Board) and 200 cattle pretty much by himself. So I would challenge them to come spend a day in the life of the ranchers who they expect to step up to the plate and do more to protect their cattle from a predator that they\u2019re forcing down our throats\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand it\u2019s not CPW\u2019s fault, it\u2019s the voters,\u201d she added. \u201cBut now it\u2019s in their court. And the governor wants these things, so maybe he should step up with more funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an email to The Sun, CPW spokesperson Travis Duncan said the agency recently entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Colorado Department of Agriculture on expanding assistance to farmers and ranchers to avoid wolf predation, and that a budget request through the governor\u2019s office to provide support to farmers and ranchers for nonlethal deterrence will be submitted Jan 2.<\/p>\n

The memorandum directs the general assembly to appropriate or authorize money to CPW through the general fund, the species conservation fund, the nongame conservation and wildlife restoration fund along with the wildlife cash fund \u2013 except for money generated through the sales of hunting and fishing licenses or associated federal grants \u2013 to pay for this support.<\/p>\n

It also says \u201cit is the mutual desire of CDA and CPW to manage and recover gray wolf populations within Colorado while minimizing conflicts with livestock and agriculture producers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a November news release, the Colorado agriculture department said it will work directly with producers to provide technical assistance for nonlethal prevention methods and develop appropriate, nonlethal livestock management strategies that minimize livestock-predator interactions.<\/p>\n

It will also \u201cadvance the adoption of nonlethal management tools\u201d among ranchers, collaborate and co-branded media responses and educational tools and conduct cross-training at least annually between CDA and CPW staff who work directly with impacted communities. The goal is to \u201cimprove communication, understanding of available programs at both agencies, and delivery of services and resources to impacted individuals and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Kim said in years past, when USDA helped with fladry, they only used it on 40 acres. At the time, she said, \u201cthey told us that\u2019s one of the biggest areas they\u2019d ever done. They\u2019re used to dealing with small farms and ranches, not like the ones we have in this valley. And, you know, we kept our cows in that 40-acre pasture until calving season. We ended up with one dead cow \u2013 from falling and not being able to get up \u2013 another, which my husband, with a torn bicep, was able to help, and quite a few cases of mastitis (a mammary gland infection), which we\u2019ve never had but did because we kept them in such a small area.\u201d<\/p>\n

CPW completed its goal of releasing 10 wolves captured in Oregon onto the West Slope last Friday. A pair of those 10 were part of the large Five Points pack in Oregon that killed three livestock animals. In an email to The Sun, Duncan responded to claims that once a wolf preys on livestock they will continue to do so in the future, by saying any wolves that have been near livestock will have some history of depredation, including the pack in Oregon, but that it \u201cdoes not mean they have a history of chronic depredation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a pack has infrequent depredation events, they should not be excluded as a source population, per the (Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management) plan,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

As for what the Gittlesons are going to do if the wolves that have been attacking their cattle come back: \u201cThey keep telling us we can shoot them, but I guarantee you, the first person that shoots a wolf in Colorado is going to go through hell,\u201d Kim said. \u201cI think the governor is going to make (CPW) come after us as hard as they can.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an email to The Sun, CPW said it stands by regulations in the Colorado wolf management plan.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

latest chapter of Don Gittleson\u2019s fight to protect his livestock from wolves, Colorado Parks and Wildlife says he should continue using mitigation tools the rancher claims haven\u2019t worked<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[120,28,603],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-29965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-headlines","tag-wildlife"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29965"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80925,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29965\/revisions\/80925"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29965"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=29965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}