Ranchers face charges after 34 elk shot dead

[grayghost]

Ranchers face charges after 34 elk shot dead
Amy AMY HAMILTON
The Daily Sentinel

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Two Northwest Colorado ranchers, apparently frustrated by foraging elk eating hay intended for livestock, now face thousands of dollars in fines and multiple felony charges for allegedly killing 34 elk.

Rodney Heath Culverwell, 41, and Kenneth Wolgram, 43, have been charged with 18 and 16 felony counts, respectively, of willful destruction of wildlife. Each was charged additionally in Moffat County District Court on Tuesday with 18 and 16 respective misdemeanor counts of illegal possession of wildlife. If convicted, each felony count carries a sentence up to two years in prison and $100,000 fine.

Officers of the Colorado Division of Wildlife said they found the dead elk on property owned by Culverwell, listed as Rio Ro Mo Land Company, and at Wolgram’s property. Both are about 15 miles west of Craig.

DOW spokesman Randy Hampton said officers completed a six-week investigation into the shootings and made the charges.

“We don’t typically see that level of charges,” Hampton said. “This is a significant case.”

According to a search warrant affidavit, officers began investigating Culverwell’s property Jan. 28 after two passersby notified the DOW they saw three dead elk — a bull, a cow and a calf — in the pasture.

Months earlier, on June 12, 2007, Culverwell had e-mailed a DOW officer about concerns of elk eating cattle feed and asking permission to kill the wildlife.

“If I have not heard from you within 2 weeks I will assume that you do not care and these matters must be taken care of by other means,” Culverwell wrote, according to the affidavit.

Officers said they found a stack of elk carcasses in Culverwell’s yard and noticed a cab full of spent, small-caliber, rifle casings in Culverwell’s vehicle after executing a search warrant Feb. 22.

The DOW said it began investigating Wolgram on Feb. 18 after finding elk carcasses near his property north of U.S. Highway 40. When questioned by wildlife officers, Wolgram denied shooting the animals, saying he didn’t own a shotgun, according to an affidavit obtained by The Craig Daily Press. Officers found shotgun shells, ammunition, 13 elk carcasses, two coyotes, 63 packages of noncommercial meat and several weapons, the Daily Press reported.

A brutal winter in Northwest Colorado, which prompted elk to venture into lower elevations to find food, has been an ongoing issue for ranchers, longtime rancher Darryl Steele said Wednesday. Steele, who runs 200 head of cattle west of Craig, near Maybell, said elk herds this winter have mixed in with the cattle, causing him significant losses of feed.

Northwest Colorado boasts the nation’s second-largest migratory elk herds, Hampton said, reaching 22,000 strong last year. Hampton said the DOW would like to reduce the Bears Ears herd size to between 11,000 and 15,000, and the agency issued thousands more hunting licenses since 2000 for that reason.

“The elk are coming in by the hundreds,” Steele said. “If a guy has only enough hay to winter his cows, then it’s a pretty tough case. As a rancher and a farmer you don’t know what to do. If you can’t get help, it’s much more frustrating.”

Steele said he was subsidized by the DOW for 18 tons of hay, but he figures he lost 37 tons of feed to elk. Steele said he’s not so much concerned with elk eating the hay as elk pushing around cattle and causing them to lose their unborn calves.

Hampton said the ranchers who receive less than $100 in payments from hunters to hunt wildlife on their property can receive subsidies to mitigate problems caused by wildlife. The agency has established “baiting areas” or feed zones for elk in an attempt to minimize damages to ranchers’ feed stocks.

Hampton added it’s common for landowners in Northwest Colorado to charge thousands of dollars per hunter for rights to hunt on private property. He said he couldn’t say whether Wolgram or Culverwell charge for hunting rights, or whether they had any former wildlife violations.

Neither Wolgram nor Culverwell returned calls for comment Wednesday.

Hampton said ranchers can get help from the DOW with cracker shells or noisy rounds that are shot of out shotguns to scare off elk. The agency also offers fencing or reimburses ranchers with cash for their losses, if they qualify for the programs. He said these options were explained during a public meeting in Maybell last month.

“I can tell you the DOW has spent thousands and thousands of dollars in reimbursing ranchers for losses this winter,” Hampton said. “This year, because of the nature of winter, we’ve dealt with quite a few situations.”

[Dan Morris]

I'd love to find a $100 property!!!! Main problem is 90% of the carcasses were left to ROT!
Dan

[fabsroman]

The main problem is that these guys ignored the law. If business is slow for me, is it okay for me to "orchestrate" some car accidents to get some money in the door? How about the construction industry right now. They are facing tough times. Maybe they should go around burning down homes and office buildings so that they will need to be rebuilt. Yes, I understand that these ranchers were between a rock and a hard spot, but that is one of the risks they run in their line of business. I know a farmer that raises cattle and he has them fenced in. Why can't these ranchers do the same thing with 200 head of cattle and try to keep the elk out? If this only happens during really tough winters, why can't they just grin and bear it for those few tough winters.

If I went out and killed 34 elk, I would be disbarred and stripped of my CPA license. Same would happen if I killed 34 ducks, geese, doves, etc. I really don't feel any remorse for these guys. The fact that they left the elk to rot just makes it worse.

If they had an issue with elk, you would think they would open up their properties for hunting for a minimal fee. I would love to know if they allowed anybody to hunt on the property during the year.

[Trapper7]

It would seem the solution to their problem is to let hunters come and kill off some of the elk. It doesn't sound like they were willing to do that. Now, they have to pay for the consequences.