“Two wolf reintroduction advocates — one of them a member of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission — are concerned by reports that a CPW staff member worked to inhibit implementation of a ballot initiative requiring the return of the animals to the state.
CPW Commissioner Jay Tutchton and Rob Edward, a strategic adviser to the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, also are worried about how things turned out for Randy Hampton, the CPW staffer who filed a whistleblower complaint regarding Northwest Regional Manager JT Romatzke’s alleged actions. Hampton has quit the agency after Romatzke returned from an administrative leave following an investigation and Hampton was told his job would again be under Romatzke’s supervision. The investigation found at least some of the allegations Hampton made against Romatzke were true, but didn’t specify which ones, according to a memo sent by a Department of Natural Resources official to Hampton.
Tutchton’s name surfaces in Hampton’s complaint. Hampton accuses Romatzke in part of telling him to find a video editor to compile any video from commissioner meetings that might cast Tutchton and fellow Commissioner Taishya Adams in a bad light. According to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, the commissioners were targeted for their perceived pro-wolf views, in an effort to slow plans to reintroduce wolves as required by the initiative.”