Some have reported the presence of wolves in Mesa County, though farmers and ranchers don’t really have a definitive answer. Many are wondering about communication and transparency from state officials, as Colorado navigates the wolf reintroduction process that voters — mostly on the Front Range — approved in 2020.
Last Thursday, the Forum spoke with Lauren Dobson, a former Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) employee. Dobson has experience working in agriculture and conservation. In the past, she was with CPW for eight years and held a few different positions. She started as partnership coordinator, networking with those in the hunting, fishing and recreation communities. She ended her work with CPW as Assistant Director for Education and Information; her job was literally to communicate, and to help communities understand what CPW was doing.
Dobson grew up in Colorado Springs, and though she doesn’t have cows, she has been a hunter and grew up hunting on the eastern plains. She simply has a love of and admiration for agriculture.
Now, Dobson — with organizational partner John Swartout — is helping to build a coalition, so that farmers, ranchers, hunters and other community members on the Western Slope can unify their voices in light of what’s happening now with wolves in Colorado.
“We are trying to help the ag community build a coalition,” she told the Forum on March 27, adding that includes individuals, ranching families and more, especially as it pertains to polices related to wildlife.
She said the wolf initiative and the process have been challenging. She’s trying to help those in ag ask what things actually look like — in their communities specifically.
She said the growing and biggest concern is communication; people want transparency; they need details and to know where wolf activity is.
She said the work she’s involved with now is about making sure that state officials give ranchers a head’s up, so livestock owners can be proactive, monitor their herds and be out on the landscape.
Calving season is here, and ranchers are feeling vulnerable. Dobson is actively networking with legacy ranching families like Janie VanWinkle’s. She said ranching families want transparent communication, and to be a part of the conversation and the solution, only they’re currently “hitting roadblocks.” Dobson said she’s also hearing that even CPW staff at local levels are voicing frustration at a lack of information from higher-ups at the state level. At the same time, she said even county commissioners have a lack of information.
Now, Dobson and Swartout are helping organize the coalition and trying to help the growing body of like-minded people figure out what the wolf issue really looks like. She told the Forum urbanization is drowning out the importance of agriculture, and the story of agriculture needs to be brought to the forefront, so people understand its importance to the state and its economy.
“That is lost in a concrete jungle, and (people) don’t interact with it as closely as they used to,” she said.
Already, the growing coalition is speaking up to those on the Front Range, letting them know by letter that they’re not the right folks to be driving ballot initiates like the wolf issue in western Colorado. And, the OHV community, hunting community and others are starting to join the organization, as are officials in Eagle, Summit, Garfield and Pitkin counties.
“They don’t want to be steamrolled,” Dobson said. “They want to be part of the conversation, and they need to be. It’s their reality.”
