Imagine if the neighbor kid threw a baseball into your window. You might expect the parents to pay for the damage. Well, that’s a lot like what happens when wildlife destroy crops. The animal’s sort of like the kid and the parents are the state of Colorado. See, wildlife are considered state property. In recent years, the state has paid big bucks to sunflower farmers in southwestern Colorado, because elk and deer have been gorging themselves on the crop. We should say that money comes does not come from the general fund, but from fees hunters and anglers pay. The state is looking for a way to keep the animals away from the fields around the town of Dove Creek. Ryan Warner speaks with Matt Hammond of the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife.
[Photo: Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife/Michael Glow]
