Colorado county hires wolf depredation position as mistrust in state handling cases grows

• Rio Blanco County was the first county to thwart wolf reintroduction despite being targeted as a likely release site.
• Now the county is hiring a part-time animal and livestock conflict investigator that will be housed under the sheriff's office.
• Some states with wolves use a combination of investigative help from third parties, including U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and sheriff’s deputies.

Grand County commissioner and rancher Merrit Linke has been preaching the need for a third-party investigator to assist Colorado Parks and Wildlife when determining potential wolf depredation cases for months.

But it's Rio Blanco County that will be the first Colorado county to take a step in that direction with its county commissioners voting March 11 to hire a part-time animal and livestock conflict investigator that will be housed under the sheriff's office.

It also was the first county to thwart wolf reintroduction despite being targeted as a likely release site. Instead, Colorado Parks and Wildlife released 15 wolves in Eagle and Pitkin counties in January 2025, growing the number of known wolves in the state to more than 30.

Rio Blanco County is hiring Justin Ewing, a longtime resident of the county who works full time with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services division and has extensive experience with wolves, according to a news release.

The release stated the hire was to "foster trust and transparency between CPW and landowners."

"CPW will still be in the loop, but this gives us another pair of eyes to help our ranchers," Rio Blanco County Sheriff's Office Undersheriff Travis Mobley told the Coloradoan, noting the office has a good relationship with Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers. "We will need that, especially if the wolf situation gets bad and there are multiple killings on multiple ranches because CPW has only so many people for these things."

But the actual role Ewing will be allowed to play in wolf conflict and depredations is murky at best.

The Coloradoan emailed questions to Colorado Parks and Wildlife on March 12, asking what duties Ewing's position might entail in regards to wolves as it relates to the agency. The agency did not address the questions and responded only by directing questions to Rio Blanco County Sheriff Anthony Mazzola.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Travis Duncan sent another response on March 14:

"CPW wildlife officers and damage specialists are responsible for livestock depredation investigations. CPW personnel have received wolf-livestock depredation field identification/investigation training from Wyoming Game and Fish. CPW personnel are also trained in identifying/investigating livestock depredations caused by other depredating species."

The lack of direct answers by the state wildlife agency to questions regarding the new position doesn't surprise Jeff Flood, who as a wildlife specialist for Stevens and Ferry counties' sheriff's departments in Washington serves as a third-party investigator involving livestock depredations, including by wolves.

"Nobody likes someone hanging over their shoulder during an investigation," Flood told the Coloradoan. "But in Washington, some people didn't think they were getting a fair shake and so they got the sheriff's office involved. We caught some things during investigations. Other times, the ranchers didn't like what I came up with, but I'm going to look at it fairly and make my own decision."

Ranchers claim Colorado Parks and Wildlife has conflict of interest during wolf depredation investigations

Colorado Parks and Wildlife investigates potential wolf depredations and determines if the death or injury is confirmed or unconfirmed to be by a wolf. That finding determines if the rancher gets paid compensation, as authorized by the state wolf recovery plan, for the claim.

The state wildlife agency hired additional wolf depredation investigators this year and now has 10. The agency also sometimes receives investigative help from partner governmental agencies, including the Colorado Department of Agriculture.

Linke said the current process creates a conflict of interest.

Linke added that conflict grew last summer after the state released 10 wolves in Grand and Summit counties in December of 2023. Grand County had 18 of the 24 confirmed wolf depredations between April and July.

That's when Linke says ranchers started noticing an increasing number of unconfirmed depredations during investigations. Linke and other ranchers claim some of those investigations showed enough evidence of a wolf kill above the wolf recovery plan's standard of "preponderance of doubt," or 51% belief a wolf was involved.

"It goes back to the ones holding the checkbook are the ones making the (depredation) decisions," Linke told the Coloradoan. "You need a neutral party and that is one of the reasons Rio Blanco went the way they did."

Linke pointed out a confirmed depredation is critical not only for ranchers to be paid compensation for the loss of the animal, but then be eligible for compensation for indirect losses due to the presence of wolves, including weight loss and reduced conception rates and missing livestock.

Those indirect losses led to a Grand County rancher recently being awarded $287,407 for compensation claims from 2024, with another $112,000 of his claim still to be heard by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission. There is another claim by a different rancher for more than $100,000.

Approved and outstanding claims from 2024 have far exceeded the state budget of $350,000 for wolf depredation compensation.

"We felt they had to shut down the depredation claims because it was bad public relations for those pushing for wolves," Linke said.

Mistrust in Colorado Parks and Wildlife led Grand County ranchers to call on sheriff's office

Many times last year, the first call ranchers made when they found livestock killed by a predator was to the sheriff's office, said Tim Ritschard, Grand County rancher and Middle Park Stockgrowers Association president.

"We like our local CPW guys, but we felt it was in our best interest to have the sheriff or a deputy there as a third party," Ritschard told the Coloradoan. "There were times CPW would show up and say it was a wolf kill, then two days later it wasn't. That made people skeptical of CPW. Having a third party present eliminates the blame game."

Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin said he has had conversations with Rio Blanco's sheriff, Mazzola, about the county's hire.

He said Rio Blanco was in the favorable position to hire such a position because it has a local resident with wolf experience, something he is not aware is available in Grand County.

"I love the idea and would absolutely be in agreement to hire a person, if we had one of those special people," Schroetlin told the Coloradoan.

Linke said he believes Grand County should consider a position such as Rio Blanco hired.

Schroetlin said his office has and will continue to respond to calls from Grand County ranchers regarding depredations to ensure public safety and trespass laws. Schroetlin added his staff is equipped with body cameras that record the scene and providence evidence for the investigation.

"The body cameras create their own record; you see what's out there, and anybody can request that body camera information," Schroetlin said. "We don't have the authority to make an investigation determination, but we can make sure the scene is secured, maintained and documented with a local presence."

Some states with wolves use a combination of investigative help from third parties, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and sheriff’s deputies.

Flood said his third-party investigations go through the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

"My recommendation to Colorado is to absolutely have a third party present at the scene, and that could include sheriff's offices," Flood told the Coloradoan. "The state's job is to grow the wolf population. You understand that. But what looks bad is having a depredation investigation without a nonbiased third party. You understand that, too."