The Colorado Senate on Tuesday approved — but not without opposition — four appointments made by Gov. Jared Polis to the state Parks and Wildlife Commission.

How the four commissioners dealt with the wolf issue, although just one aspect of the commission’s responsibilities, took front and center during a hearing last week in the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. 

The four nominees are Commission Chair Dallas May for his second term, Tai Jacober of Pitkin County, Murphy Robinson of Denver, and James “Jay” Tutchton of Hasty, also for his second term.

It was Tutchton’s nomination that drew the most fire, both in the hearing last week and on Tuesday, when the full Senate confirmed his appointment on a 21-13 vote, with two Democrats voting against him, along with the chamber’s Republicans. 

May and Robinson won unanimous votes; Jacober’s nomination was confirmed on a 33-1 vote. 

Tutchton was reappointed to the commission as a representative of nonprofits that promote conservation and  “non-consumptive” wildlife use. By statute, the appointee cannot hold a hunting or fishing license.

Tutchton manages 60,000 acres on the Southern Plains Land Trust, which works to restore wildlife habitats, as well as manage buffalo and cattle, and counts among its funders Colorado Parks and Wildlife. He also is a former attorney for the environmental group WildEarth Guardians.

Tutchton won a party-line approval on his first appointment in 2021. 

Tutchton’s recommendation was rejected by the committee, partly as a result of him last year calling the chair of the Senate agriculture panel and the House Speaker “whiny politicians” who pander to the newspapers on the issue of “chronic depredation” by wolves.

Senators last week and on Tuesday questioned Tutchton’s ties to the governor’s office and a perceived lack of independence, as well as his disdain for agriculture and hunting.

Sen. Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells, also raised a conflict of interest issue on Tuesday, noting that CPW is a financial sponsor of the Southern Plains Land Trust.

Sen. Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, noted one of the criteria for appointment to the commission is to value differences of opinion and he suggested Tuchton does not. 

During last week’s hearing, Ag Chair Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, questioned Tuchton’s comments from a March 13, 2024 CPW meeting, in which Tuchton referred to him and House Speaker Julie McCluskie — although not by name — as “whiny politicians.”

“Are we caving in to those folks who just whined or did they have a point?” Tuchton had asked. “I’m not going to discount the possibility that whining and pandering politicians are occasionally making a valid point. So, did we change our mind that we want to define chronic depredation now? Or are we just knuckling under to some political rhetoric?”

Tuchton initially refused to say who he meant, but when pressed, he said he knew Roberts believed he was the politician, given letters that Roberts and McCluskie had written to CPW on behalf of Jackson County ranchers, whose livestock were being slaughtered by wolves.

“Do you think it’s a inappropriate for politicians … to represent communities that are deeply impacted by the wolf issue? Do you think it’s inappropriate for us to be involved in this space?” Roberts asked Tuchton.

Tuchton apologized for his “choice of words,” which he called inappropriate.

“I was trying to get at whether this was sort of background noise or had someone identified a flaw in our (wolf) plan? But to your question, it’s totally appropriate for you guys to do what you did.”

The answer didn’t mollify Roberts or three other members of the committee, who rejected his nomination on a 4-3 vote. Roberts, along with Sen. Kyle Mullica of Thornton, voted against his nomination on the Senate floor.  

Meanwhile, Robinson and May won unanimous recommendations for approval from the agriculture committee. Jacober got a thumbs down from Roberts but still won a positive recommendation.

May, a rancher from Lamar, responded to questions about CPW’s new definition of “chronic depredation” as three depredation incidents in 30 days, either injury or death, and which could lead to lethal management of the wolf.

Had that definition been in place a year ago, May told the committee, the male wolf of the Copper Creek pack in Grand County, believed to be responsible for killing as many as a dozen calves and cows last year, would have met that criteria.

Committee members also criticized Jacober, who was appointed to represent production agriculture, saying he failed to represent agriculture producers on the Western Slope in his recent “no” vote on a petition for rulemaking on wolves submitted by 22 organizations. Only one commissioner — Marie Haskett — voted in favor of allowing the petition to go forward.*

“Your constituents are literally the people who have been most impacted by the wolf introduction,” said Roberts, who criticized Jacober for voting against the ranchers.

Jacober defended his vote, stating it was difficult but that he believed CPW had addressed the seven items raised in the petition.

“On its merit, the petition no longer stood because each of the seven items had been addressed,” he said, although acknowledging that ranchers don’t necessarily believe that — and Roberts didn’t appear to, either.

Jacober noted wolves were put on the ground just 2 miles from his own cattle herds but defended CPW’s secrecy about the most recent release, blaming ranchers for safety concerns for CPW staff. 

That drew a rebuke from Sen. Marc Catlin, R-Montrose, who disagreed with the “insinuation that those staff members are at risk is because of ranchers.”

“And I totally disagree with that,” said Catlin, who asked Jacober to impart to CPW that its public statements put the onus on the people who try to make a living, raising the cattle, “rather than the people that are there to cause chaos.”

May added that CPW staff have been placed in a very tough position. They are up to the task, he said, and that livestock producers “have great respect for CPW people and the things that they have to do on the ground.” 

Robinson, the first Black sportsperson appointee to the commission, a former director of public safety for Denver and a lifelong angler and hunter, told the committee his mission is to bring more people to hunting and angling and to parks.

“The best thing that we have in the state of Colorado is our parks and our wildlife and our agriculture community,” Robinson said.

As for the wolf issue, Robinson said the commission is literally building the plane as it’s flying it. 

“Agriculture in our state is probably the No. 1 most important aspect of our economic development,” he said. “If we’re not helping the people that produce our food, we’re gonna lose the battle.”

Robinson added that it’s important for CPW to mitigate the issues that come with wolf reintroduction and for the commission and CPW to take seriously the issues the agriculture community faces. That also means being empathetic, Robinson said, as commissioners and CPW staff aren’t the people who have to be up in the middle of the night trying to protect their cattle.

Update: The Department of Natural Resources says the Southern Plains Land Trust website is in error as to its claims that CPW is a funder, however; SPLT’s annual 2024 report also said CPW funds a new regional partnership that is led by the trust. 

Editor’s note: Marie Haskett was the only vote in favor of the ag producers’ petition; a previous version identified the wrong commissioner.