Ranchers in three counties demand Colorado officials kill four wolves responsible for six dead cows
Gov. Jared Polis and members of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission received letters Monday from ranchers in Grand, Jackson and Larimer counties demanding they take action.
Hugh Carey/The Colorado Sun
Ranchers in Grand, Jackson and Larimer counties, the Grand County sheriff and the Colorado Wool Growers Association have sent six letters in the past week asking Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Parks and Wildlife to kill four wolves blamed for the deaths of six cows in Grand and Jackson counties in the past 16 days.
In a letter addressed to Polis and CPW on Monday, the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association reiterated a request it sent April 18 for the immediate removal of two wolves from known depredating packs in Oregon that have been killing cattle in Grand County. A letter sent Monday from the North Park Stockgrowers Association said it “proudly stands united” with Middle Park and requested additionally that CPW kill two wolves that have been “plaguing Jackson County” with 20 confirmed animal deaths since they entered Colorado in 2022 and killed one calf and injured another in the same 16-day period this month.
Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin in his letter cited five confirmed deaths in Grand County, adding “this number of depredations is believed to be higher as our community continues to learn about wolf practices and patterns here firsthand in our county.”
The Larimer County Stockgrowers Association, which added its letter to the mix Monday afternoon, wrote to Polis and CPW “in solidarity with (its) brothers and sisters in animal husbandry from the Middle and North Park Communities.”
“The tenuous nature of these now chronic depredation events requires a greater level of communication, transparency and commitment to the stewards of agriculture who keep our great state fed,” the letter said.
Read more from Tracy Ross at ColoradoSun.com
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