Public has a right to information about payments to property owners for wildlife damage.

By RYAN SEDGELEY

Wolves are once again being used as a scapegoat by state Sen. Dylan Roberts (D-District 8). This time he is trying to get a sneaky bill passed in the Colorado General Assembly, that if passed, would hide important information about game damage compensation payments. It would be a handout to property owners without full public oversight.

While proponents of this bill including state Sen. Marc Catlin (R-District 5), and Rep. Julie McCluskie (D-District 13), have been trying to frame this as a "wolf issue," this bill would actually hide important information about all claims that property owners make when damage is done to their property by any covered wildlife. This includes damage done by elk, bears, and even bighorn sheep. This bill would encourage corruption, fraud, and handouts to bad actors without the proper oversight and disclosure that the public has a right to.

The Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) works to allow the public hold government accountable. When payments are being made to property owners for wildlife damage, the public has a right to know who is getting paid. If property owners, and more importantly businesses, like ranching and farming, are too scared to have their names published then they shouldn't get a taxpayer funded check.

If the politicians pushing this bill are actually concerned with protecting sensitive personal information like phone numbers and addresses of private residences, then they should write a bill that would provide uniform application to all open records requests, not something targeted to help ranchers hide from accountability when they get a welfare check from Colorado taxpayers.

Let's be clear, I am all for helping our ranching and ag producers transition to living and working with wolves. In fact, one of the things that makes wolf restoration in Colorado unique is how we are showing up for both our wildlife and our people. There is a generous compensation fund that pays market value for cattle killed or injured by wolves. A benefit that most other businesses do not have for damaged or lost goods. There is money allocated by the General Assembly for helping provide resources and training through Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Colorado Department of Agriculture. The Born to Be Wild license plate has raised over $650,000. These funds are paid by individuals putting their money where their values are. Colorado State University has The Center for Human-Carnivore Coexistence that has a fund for doing wolf conflict reduction work. Finally. the nonprofit community has also shown up to help in the field and to provide materials, training, and resources to help ranchers make this transition. All this for an animal that is only responsible for less than 1% of cattle mortality. To put it in context, dogs kill 11.3% and weather is responsible for 9.3% of cattle mortality.

Secrecy is not the answer when Colorado taxpayers have bent over backwards to ensure that property owners and agricultural producers are generously compensated for damage done by wolves and other covered wildlife species. That effort deserves more than this cynical misleading bill. Taxpayers deserve transparency not government handouts shrouded in secrecy.

Ryan Sedgeley is the Southern Rockies field representative for the Endangered Species Coalition. He writes from Montrose.