Livestock

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has temporarily suspended its chronic depredation directive, meaning wolves that repeatedly kill livestock will remain on the landscape through the fall as ranchers gather cattle for the season. The agency has lethally removed five wolves since April under the directive and is investigating another wolf mortality; some wolves in the reintroduced population also appear to be affected by mange. CPW says future removals will be evaluated case by case, using a conservative approach amid concerns that population growth may fall short for the current biological year, which ends March 31, 2027.

Agricultural groups reacted sharply. Colorado Farm Bureau president Carlyle Currier called the move a contradiction of years of stakeholder dialogue, while Colorado Wool Growers Association director Bonnie Eddy accused CPW of abandoning ranchers amid ongoing livestock attacks. Grand County Commissioner Merritt Linke and Rocky Mountain Farmers Union president Chad Franke argued the pause violates the state's own wolf management plan, intensifying tension between Colorado's wolf reintroduction program and rural livestock producers.

Ohio lawmakers are considering two bills, House Bill 591 and Senate Bill 323, that would legalize natural organic reduction, commonly called human composting, as an alternative to burial and cremation. The process converts human remains into soil through controlled decomposition. Under the House bill, the practice would generally be regulated like cremation and could take place anywhere cremation is already allowed, including at existing funeral homes, crematories or cemetery buildings that meet licensing requirements. The State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors would oversee operator training, permits and facility licensing, with fees intended to offset regulatory costs.

Unlike Colorado and Maryland, Ohio's proposals do not explicitly bar selling the resulting soil or using it to grow food, though other property and state laws could still restrict such uses. The House and Senate versions differ slightly in how they amend the state's burial-permit statute. Both bills have had committee hearings but have not advanced further. Fourteen states have already authorized the practice, according to the National Funeral Directors Association.