Wolves, water, and wildlife: How will this year’s state budget impact the Western Slope?
Adam Messer/AP
Colorado’s annual budget proposal, which largely prioritizes education and health care, also includes several proposals that are of specific interest to residents of the Western Slope. The budget, which is not yet finalized, includes funding for non-lethal wolf deterrence, water litigation, and wildlife management.
The six-member Joint Budget Committee (JBC), which writes the state budget, settled on a $40.6 billion budget that would take effect July 1. Statewide highlights for the draft budget include full funding of the state’s K-12 education system for the first time since the Great Recession and pay bumps for state healthcare workers.
It also proposes a $132 million increase for higher education, which should limit tuition increases to 3% for Colorado residents and 4% for out-of-state students.
The state is facing tighter financial constraints this year as federal stimulus funding from the COVID-19 pandemic has dried up and economic growth has slowed.
Here are a few things in the draft budget impacting the Western Slope:
Wolf deterrence
When the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) originally submitted a request for about $580,000 in funding to help ranchers secure non-lethal wolf depredation tools, the Joint Budget Committee denied it, saying they didn’t think it would be useful. After the department asked them to reconsider, the committee approved the request.
“Another member of the committee heard from constituents that in fact it would be helpful,” said Rep. Emily Sirota, a Democratic member of the committee.
The proposal would fund three full-time employees to provide technical assistance and supplies to ranchers to promote non-lethal efforts to deter wolves from attacking livestock. That would include installation of fladry and lights, range riding, and assisting with carcass removal.
They would also be charged with attending livestock sales to build relationships with ranchers across the state.
Currently, there is only one employee tasked with mediating wildlife impacts on agriculture.
“CDA needs to have boots on the ground to assist producers in finding ways to protect their herds while complying with the law and protecting the gray wolf population as they are re-introduced,” according to the department’s request to the committee.
House Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Dillon Democrat and former member of the JBC, said she was extremely pleased to see the request funded.
“Ranchers in my district have expressed how expensive some of these deterrent items are and having a grant fund available, having the expertise on installation and usage of these deterrents is really valuable,” she said.
Two amendments bringing an additional $500,000 or $800,000 funds to the fund, brought by Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta, failed in the House during second readings on Friday.
Water
The proposed budget also includes about $300,000 for two additional full-time employees in the Department of Law (DOL) to help secure the state’s water interests.
“The complexity, sensitivity, and magnitude of state water issues has increased the department’s policy and litigation workloads significantly,” according to the department’s budget request.
Colorado is part of nine interstate water compacts, one international treaty, two U.S. Supreme Court decrees, and one interstate agreement.
“As climate change and population growth continue to impact Colorado’s water obligations, the DOL’s defense of Colorado’s water rights is more critical than ever,” according to the document.
One of the new employees, a policy analyst, will monitor government regulations and neighboring states’ activities on water policy. The other position will “bolster the representation and litigation support of the DOL across the various river basins,” support the state’s efforts to negotiate Colorado’s water and compact positions, and communicate with the state’s significant water interests.
Wildlife and other odds and ends
The Department of Natural Resources will also beef up its staffing around wildlife management under a $1.3 million line item in the proposed budget. That proposal includes several new employees who will help manage local wildlife areas, including in Glenwood Springs. It also would create three new positions to monitor elk and deer populations in the Northwest, Northeast, and Southwest regions of the state.
The draft budget also includes an additional $1 million for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, funding eight new employees, for species conservation efforts. The workers will specifically focus on topics like amphibians, pollinating insects, terrestrial biology in the Southwest region of the state, and general habitat protection.
The budget also provides an additional $1.1 million to the Colorado Mountain College system, reflecting a 9.4% increase, which is similar to the increase given to most other colleges in the state.
For bills approved this year, the budget will also set aside $43 million for housing bills, $16 million for workforce and education bills, and $32 million for other bills prioritized by the governor and the legislature.
The annual budget won’t be finalized until it moves through both chambers and is signed by the governor.
The 120-day legislative session ends May 8.
Elliott Wenzler is the Western Slope politics reporter for The Aspen Times and its sister publications in Glenwood Springs, Vail, Steamboat Springs, Summit County, and Grand County.
