COLORADO, USA — Ranchers and producers are looking to recover losses they say have been caused by the wolf reintroduction program, submitting nearly $600,000 in claims.
Meeting the year-end deadline, three producers submitted six claims, totaling $582,000. That would more than bankrupt the state’s wolf depredation compensation fund, which received $350,000 in the 2024-25 budget. Over three years, the wolf reintroduction program has cost the state more than $5.1 million.
Between April and September, more than two dozen confirmed attacks on livestock in Jackson, Routt, and Grand counties drew only two paid claims through the state’s wolf depredation compensation fund. Those claims were small, with the largest paid claim of $1,514 for a calf in Jackson County. More are pending, with at least one waiting to be paid since last April, according to the state’s wolf depredation website.