Wolf 2306-OR shortly after release in Grand County, Colorado, on Dec. 19, 2023. (Courtesy of CPW)
Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff have started capturing a second round of gray wolves to be released in Colorado in the coming weeks.
The state can capture up to 15 wolves from British Columbia, Canada. They will then be distributed in Garfield, Eagle or Pitkin counties. Capture operations started on Friday and can last for up to two weeks.
A news release from CPW said adding more wolves to the existing population in Colorado will increase the likelihood of pairing, breeding and pack formation. When established packs start to defend territories, CPW will be able to better monitor the wolves’ patterns and better collaborate with livestock producers.
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“We remain committed to working with all parties as we continue to implement the law as passed by the voters,” CPW Director Jeff Davis said in a statement. “We have been working all year in preparation to have more wolves on the landscape with an improved Conflict Minimization Program, the addition of new staff to work alongside producers, strengthened partnerships, and guidelines for producers as it relates to chronic depredation and lethal management considerations.”
The state’s wolf reintroduction program fulfills a voter-approved 2020 ballot initiative to reintroduce the animals in Colorado in the name of restoring ecological balance. The measure, Proposition 114, was passed by a narrow 51% to 49% margin, and though it includes provisions to compensate livestock producers for animals the wolves kill, it has been bitterly opposed by Colorado’s ranching industry.
Wolves captured in British Columbia will be examined and provided treatment for possible diseases, and each will wear a collar CPW can use to track the animals. The wolves will come from an area of British Columbia where there is no livestock, so none have repeatedly attacked livestock.
CPW will disclose the sex, weight and approximate age of all the wolves relocated to Colorado.
In a joint statement, Colorado Republican U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert of Windsor, Jeff Crank of Colorado Springs, Gabe Evans of Fort Lupton and Jeff Hurd of Grand Junction sought answers from the U.S. Department of Interior on why the Bureau of Land Management has yet to update Resource Management Plans to address the impact wolves have on agriculture, tribes, sportsmen and oil and gas producers in Colorado. They said Colorado agricultural producers lost $580,000 in the first year of wolf reintroduction.
“After years of slighting or outright ignoring Colorado farmers and ranchers with politically appointed anti-agricultural activists and ‘meat-free days,’ bureaucrats in Colorado have rushed through the importation of Canadian gray wolves and have set them loose in our state despite numerous protests and questions about the legality of this dysfunctional and chaotic approach,” the lawmakers said.
Boebert introduced a bill in Congress last year that would remove gray wolves from the endangered species list.
Colorado state Sen. Dylan Roberts, a Frisco Democrat, said in a post on X that the second round of wolf reintroduction must “go better” than the first release.
“Should problems arise or commitments fail to be honored, we will exercise our power as a co-equal branch to protect our constituents, amplify valid concerns, and ensure that coexistence is equitable,” Roberts said in the post.
Last week, the CPW Commission denied a petition from livestock advocates that sought to suspend further introductions until additional wolf-livestock conflict minimization efforts could be fleshed out. That includes a range rider program, where riders contracted by CPW and the state agriculture department will receive specialized training in deterrence and conflict mitigation techniques and will be deployed as needed throughout the summer and fall months when the potential for conflicts is highest.
“CPW has continued its professional implementation of the Colorado wolf restoration plan. The additional wolves will help to both ensure the success of the effort and protect the investments already made,” Rocky Mountain Wolf Project board member Gary Skiba said in a statement. “With the support of Colorado’s voters and the CPW Commission, the future is bright for Colorado’s wolves.”
The state introduced an initial round of 10 wolves in Grand and Summit Counties in 2023. The reintroduction plan calls for annual winter releases of 10 to 15 wolves per year in the program’s first three to five years, with an initial target of a stable population of at least 50 animals within the state.
Seventeen cattle and nine sheep were confirmed to have been killed by wolves in and around Grand County following last year’s reintroductions, according to CPW data.
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