The names of ranchers who request compensation for wolves killing their livestock may be blocked from public view if a recently proposed bill is approved by the Colorado legislature next year.

Under the bill, members of the public and media wouldn’t be able to see the ranchers’ names when requesting compensation records for wolf attacks, also known as depredations, through the Colorado Open Records Act. 

“Many ranchers and livestock owners are hesitant to fill out depredation claims because they fear their personal information may be revealed to the public,” said Sen. Dylan Roberts, a Frisco Democrat who will be the prime sponsor of the bill. 

​​The Water Resources and Agriculture Review Committee approved the draft bill during a Wednesday hearing.

Under Proposition 114, the ballot measure that voters narrowly approved in 2020 to reintroduce gray wolves on the Western Slope, the state is required to compensate ranchers for any losses or injuries due to wolf attacks, also known as depredations. 

The compensation, which allows up to $15,000 per head of cattle or working dog, is only granted when a depredation is proven as wolf-caused. 

There have been 16 confirmed wolf attacks so far, but only three cases have resulted in payouts under the state’s compensation fund, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Claims haven’t been filed in most of the confirmed cases. 

Don Gittleson, a Jackson County rancher who has lost livestock to wolf attacks, said in a June interview that ranchers also may not be filing claims because they have to show receipts for how much the animal was worth and they may not yet have that data. 

Ranchers may also be waiting until the end of the year to fill out their claims, hoping it limits how much paperwork is required, a Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson said. 

Jeff Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, said the organization’s board had not yet taken a position on the bill.

“It’s important that journalists and the public be able to scrutinize government programs that involve the disbursement of public dollars,” he said. “If a lot of the data is off limits to the public, it’s much harder to do that.”

The department has already been redacting personal information in CORA requests but this bill would put the practice into statute. The bill would also apply to compensation claims from other animals, such as bears and mountain lions. 

The proposal was approved unanimously by the 10-person committee, which is bipartisan and made up of both House and Senate members.

The bill, which will begin in the Senate, will be considered during the next legislative session, which begins in January.