Four appointees to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission faced the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee for confirmation. Dallas May’s confirmation to represent agriculture producers for a second term was sent with a favorable recommendation to the full Senate by a unanimous vote. Murphy Robinson’s appointment to represent sportspersons was also sent to the full Senate unanimously. Tai Jacober’s appointment to represent Western Slope agriculture producers was sent to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation on a 5-1 vote and Jay Tutchton’s reappointment to represent Outdoor Recreation, Parks Utilization and Nonconsumptive Wildlife will be sent to the full Senate with an unfavorable recommendation on a 3-4 vote.

Jacober spoke several times about ranching in the state’s newest wolf release area.

“I, too, was concerned about the wolves,” Jacober said. “They were put in my backyard and I know there’s currently a wolf two miles away from my calving ground, and I know there’s a lot more wolves five miles away from my calving ground. And, so, in the interest of the safety, which is what I kept being told, of CPW staff and the wolves, during the actual release periods it was quiet. I felt in the dark and felt like it was quiet, but it was being done for safety.”

Jacober said he respected that, and said once the releases were completed, he heard through a media outlet which county the wolves were released in.

Sen. Marc Catlin, R-Montrose, said he respects efforts to keep CPW staff safe, but believes threats don’t stem from the state’s ranchers.

“I don’t think any of us wants CPW staff put at risk,” Catlin said. “But one of the things that seems to be happening is the insinuation that those staff members are at risk is because of you, the ranchers. And I totally disagree with that.”

Catlin asked Jacober to communicate to CPW that some public statements “put the onus on the people trying to make a living raising cattle, rather than the people there to cause chaos.”

Chair May said CPW staff has been put in a tough situation and said the true livestock producers have a great respect for CPW staff and the work they do in rural areas.

A TOUGH SITUATION

“There was one female wolf that crossed onto the eastern slope into Chaffee County,” he said. “That wolf was there for days, apparently, and no local producers were aware of that — I spoke to some local producers, and nobody was aware of that female wolf being in their country for several days — they heard about it on a news report.”

May said this situation shouldn’t have happened. Producers unaware of the possibility of wolf presence could “go out one morning and mistake that wolf for a feral dog or coyote or something that is threatening harm to their animals.” If that animal were shot, “you just made that producer a felon and that felon had no idea there was a wolf in the country, hadn’t even thought about a wolf, maybe hadn’t even considered the presence of wolves, but in the act of protecting their livelihood, that happened.”

“Obviously this female wolf never hurt a thing,” May said. “She’s been in that country, in and out, and she hasn’t hurt a thing, so let’s not put her life in peril. Let’s not put producers’ livelihoods in peril. Let’s be as transparent as we can be in all of this discussion. The trouble with that is there’s been a certain segment that is threatening violence on the wolves and that has created an air of mistrust among producers and CPW on the ground. I ask that we get past that.”

The day of the Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, 9 News reported that the wolf found in Elbert County in eastern Colorado in April of 2024 was killed in a trap. The investigation, which concluded that the wolf died of entrapment and was in the trap for two days, did determine no one at the ranch broke the law. There were, The Fence Post earlier reported, two permitted trappers in the vicinity and neither were notified of the wolf’s presence, though a nearby llama was confirmed as a wolf kill days prior.

Murphy Robinson said it is important for the Commission and CPW to take seriously the challenges the agriculture community is facing. Robinson said he has visited with ranchers and met producers who stayed in tents to mitigate wolf depredations during calving.

“I would say agriculture in our state is the No. 1 most important aspect of our economic development because you all and everyone that has ag for their business produce what we eat,” Robinson said. “It’s as simple as that. So, if we’re not helping the people who produce our food, we’re going to lose the battle.”

Jacober said the staff-level definition of chronic depredation is one he struggles with considering depredations by a lion that he experienced on his operation.

“The thing I find the hardest is the three different depredations by one wolf,” he said. “For instance, the lion killed 14 sheep in one night. To me, that’s 14 depredations.”

In Jacober’s case, the lion was removed. May said during the January commission meeting, Jacober asked Director Jeff Davis if using that definition, the male wolf in Middle Park would have met the definition of chronic depredation of three events in 30 days. May said he believes he would have, and he uses that as a gauge of the definition.

Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, asked Commissioner Robinson about being charged with independence from influence by the executive branch.

“I think the meat of your question is do we take direction from the governor, from the governor’s office and I have never been asked any specific things outside of my interview with the governor and his staff when talking about how many animals I’ve hunted and if I’m an actual hunter and they dug deep,” he said. “I’ve never been influenced in that way, nor would I ever be influenced in that way. This commission doesn’t work unless it’s independent.”

Commissioner Jay Tutchton echoed Robinson’s answer. Roberts asked if Tutchton communicates with anyone from the governor’s office during CPW Commission meetings or about the items on the agenda.

“I’ve been on four years,” he said. “I can’t remember talking about anything that was on the agenda, I remember talking about wolverines. That was more in your wheelhouse, a legislative matter.”

Roberts then asked May if it was appropriate that Commissioners Jessica Beaulieu and Jack Murphy used their CPW Commissioner titles in an opinion article meant to influence readers to support legislation that would have outlawed mountain lion hunting. May said there is active litigation pending, hamstringing his ability to comment on particulars.
Sen. Catlin asked about improving the relationship between CPW and agriculture producers in the state and Robinson said it is his experience that CPW staff works hard to build and maintain those relationships.

“Without the agriculture community, they have no access to most of the land in the state of Colorado,” Robinson said. “It’s important to call that out because it really puts the context to what I believe should be the foundation of that relationship, which is transparency.”

CHRONIC DEPREDATION

Chair Roberts questioned Commissioner Tutchton about his comments at the March 13, 2024, meeting where Tutchton said, “I remember some whiny politicians kind of pandering to the newspapers and complaining that we need to define chronic depredation, and so I’m wondering, well, one of two things. Are we caving in to those folks who just whined or did they have a point (chuckles). I’m not going to discount the possibility that whining and pandering politicians are occasionally making a valid point. So did we change our mind that we want to define chronic depredation now, or are we just knuckling under to some political rhetoric?”

Tutchton apologized and admitted that he understood Roberts felt personally identified.

“So, it was me and the Speaker of the House of Representative who wrote a letter to CPW because we represent Jackson County and our constituents were asking us about the status of the North Park wolves who were depredating livestock,” Roberts said. “We sent a respectful letter to CPW at the request of our constituents asking for clarity on chronic depredation. We did not demand that a definition of chronic depredation be made, we asked respectfully for an update on that definition, and if that wasn’t possible, then a reasoning as to why a definition of chronic depredation couldn’t be put forward at that time.”

Tutchton said his comments were borne of frustration at his perception of undoing the compromises made by both sides during the creation of the wolf plan. He and the other commissioners deferred to the wolf plan and CPW’s biologists when asked about how many wolves constitute a sustainable population.

Robinson and May were confirmed unanimously with a favorable recommendation to the full Senate. Ag Committee Chair Dylan Roberts told Commissioner Jacober that there was room for Jacober to express his support for West Slope livestock producers with an aye vote on the petition that came before the CPW Commission to pause releases. Roberts cast the sole no vote for Jacober’s confirmation. Sens. Catlin, Byron Pelton, R-Sterling, Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells, and Roberts voted against Tutchton’s confirmation, failing 3-4. His confirmation will be sent to the full Senate without a favorable recommendation.