Lawmakers Push Back On Taxpayer Funding For Colorado Wolf Program

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun

The General Assembly sent a strong message over the last few days to Gov. Jared Polis in footnotes to the proposed state budget: Stop using general fund money to reintroduce wolves to Colorado.

Footnotes to the budget, also known as the long bill, aren’t legally binding. And the spending plan still has a few steps to go before it can be signed into law by Polis.

But if approved, Colorado Parks and Wildlife would be on notice not to use taxpayer money to reintroduce wolves. Instead, lawmakers want the program authorized by voters in 2020 to rely on gifts, grants and donations to complete its work. In the current 2025-26 fiscal year, CPW was given $264,238 from the state’s general fund to bring 15 wolves from British Columbia to Colorado. 

The amendments approved by both the House and Senate to add a footnote are the second strong signal that lawmakers seem poised to stop funding wolf reintroduction. The Joint Budget Committee earlier this year pushed CPW to be more transparent on how much it was spending for reintroduction. CPW responded by saying it would cost nearly twice what it did a year ago, to cover any potential complications during future relocations. The JBC balked.

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