Colorado Parks and Wildlife is attempting to clarify the process for ranchers seeking compensation for wolf-related losses

When Colorado voters passed Proposition 114 in 2020, it not only initiated the state’s reintroduction of gray wolves but also required Colorado Parks and Wildlife to help producers prevent wolf conflict and pay ranchers fair compensation for livestock losses. 

With the creation of a wolf plan, the state wildlife agency also stood up a new model and process for compensating ranchers for wolf-related livestock losses. Now, taking knowledge from the first two years of reintroduction and a stakeholder group convened this year, the agency is seeking to improve and clarify the process.  

“We continue to improve the Wolf Damage Compensation Program,” said Jeff Davis, the former director of Parks and Wildlife, at the November commission meeting just weeks before he was forced to resign from the position. “This was the first year of addressing the itemized claims, and we’ve improved the process for those claims for this upcoming 2025 year.”

Brittany Dixon, executive director of Club 20 — an advocacy group representing Western Slope interests — said that the process up until this point has not met expectations. 

“Landowners were promised timely communication and fair compensation, and instead, some of those landowners are waiting months for their claims to even be heard,” Dixon said. “And in some cases, they’ve had to hire legal counsel just to access what they were told would be a fairly straightforward process of support.”

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Luke Perkins, Parks and Wildlife’s public information officer for wolves, said that the latest improvements are “non-regulatory,” but are meant to make the process clearer. 

When asked what specific changes were made, Perkins said they were “process and clarification changes, such as providing clarity and interpretation of terms and definitions for claim submissions; and clarifying the records required to be submitted by claimants, including identifying both consistent types and timing of records required.”

The updates will roll out in January and “will be applied to all itemized and indirect claims for gray wolf damage received for the 2025 damage year — due on or by Dec. 31, 2025 — with these claims being processed in January/February 2026,” Perkins said. 

What are Colorado producers compensated for? 

Parks and Wildlife has other programs to compensate Colorado landowners and producers for game damage. The agency covers losses to property such as crops, fences, livestock, livestock forage, and personal property caused by eight species, such as mountain lions, bears and moose. 

Perkins said this “long history” of working with agricultural producers to minimize conflict between wildlife and livestock or crops created a “solid foundation for similar work for gray wolves.” 

“This compensation model is new, not only in Colorado, but also across all states compensating for losses due to gray wolves,” Perkins said. 

For losses from wolves, Colorado ranchers are eligible for compensation up to $15,000 per animal from the state’s Wolf Depredation Compensation fund. These funds cover not only direct losses of livestock and working dogs by wolves, but also indirect losses related to the predator’s presence on the landscape — the latter of which can include impacts on livestock conception rates and weight. Ranchers can also receive compensation for missing livestock in large, open range settings once a wolf depredation has been confirmed.

Itemized claims are an optional part of the process for ranchers who file for compensation for missing animals, reduced weight, or decreased conception rates. According to previous comments from Davis, Colorado is the only Western state that pays for these types of losses.  

Ranchers can file their claims up to Dec. 31 for the year when their losses occurred. 

Since the initial compensation program was created, the Parks and Wildlife Commission has only made one regulatory change to the wolf compensation program. Following feedback from a North Park rancher, the commission voted in October to make rancher-administered vet care — under the guidance of a licensed veterinarian — for wolf-related livestock injuries eligible for compensation. Previously, only care directly administered by a licensed vet was eligible for reimbursement. 

However, following feedback from staff, claimants and stakeholders that the claims process needed improvements, Parks and Wildlife convened a stakeholder group this spring to advise on necessary changes. The group met multiple times throughout the year. 

“They discussed areas of needed clarity, the records needed to fulfill the compensation/claim process, and the processes (Parks and Wildlife) could implement to improve both (Parks and Wildlife) and claimant experience,” Perkins said. 

The group included Parks and Wildlife and Colorado Department of Agriculture staff, Colorado State University livestock researchers, wolf advocates and livestock producers representing a range of animals and production models. 

Producers that suffer a loss are given a 16-page wolf damage packet that includes several pages of information, definitions and requirements, as well as pages for producers to fill out. The packet is intended to be completed by “claimants with the assistance of (Parks and Wildlife) staff who help provide context and clarity on the claims process,” according to Perkins. 

The packet provides an outline of the records producers are required to obtain and submit to be compensated. For itemized losses, this includes documentation proving vaccination of livestock as well as historic records around missing animals, weights and pregnancy rates. 

As of Dec. 17, Parks and Wildlife has confirmed 31 wolf depredation events in 2025, involving 18 calves, six cattle, six lambs, six sheep and one dog. With producers having until the end of the year to submit claims for this calendar year, Parks and Wildlife has not received claims for the vast majority of the depredations in 2025. Only one has been paid out: a Feb. 5 depredation in Jackson County, where a cow died, resulted in a $2,097.66 payment. Three additional claims have been received.

Parks and Wildlife confirmed 19 wolf depredation events in 2024. The agency has received claims for all but two of these incidents, and 12 are currently listed as “pending” on its spreadsheet tracking these incidents. It has paid out five of these claims totaling $6,662.83.