By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
Tom Jankovsky, Mike Samson and Perry Will are setting the standard.
The Garfield County commissioners are doing what some say commissioners in every county should do for their constituencies who voted against the 2020 ballot initiative to reintroduce wolves to Western Colorado.
In a press release on Jan. 21, 2025, the commissioners announced they had written a letter to Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, requesting that the agency reconsider its approach to releasing grey wolves on the Western Slope.
“The Board of County Commissioners’ letter demands a pause in the reintroduction of wolves to ensure the program is working, that impacts to ranchers be mitigated, and that people have the right to defend their families, pets and livestock through more than the currently allowed non-lethal methods,” reads the press release.
The Garfield County commissioners made it clear that there is a “profound failure of civic leadership” in the upper echelons of CPW staff and include criticism of the appointed members of the Wildlife Commission.
The letter asks for more accountability from CPW commissioners and agency leadership, which has been mostly absent from public discussions on the Western Slope, leaving local officials to manage public frustration that in recent weeks has hit a boiling point.
In the letter to CPW Denver and the governor, commissioners point out and praise the local CPW staff who attended those meetings and who work in local areas, saying they “are highly respected” members of our communities.
“They demonstrated professionalism, integrity and dedication in a challenging situation, and they deserve our gratitude for their work. However, their efforts only highlight the stark failure and absence of leadership at higher levels,” reads the press release.
The commissioners say that the “difficulties finding adequate release zones that have come to light during this last release completed on Jan. 18 (has) radically changed the process voters approved.”
According to the press release, “the county asked the agency to halt all further releases of wolves until more remote locations on federal lands can be determined; to more clearly define chronic depredation; develop a range rider program; adequately staff so that a CPW officer can be to the scene of killed livestock within hours to determine what animal was involved; create additional strategies for managing human-wolf conflicts; and to negotiate with the Southern Ute Tribal Nation to allow releases to occur in other regions in Southern Colorado.”
The commissioners write in the press release that they requested CPW be allowed more time to plan, adequately staff and effectively implement the reintroduction plan.
“This extension would enable CPW to fulfill its mandate to continue wolf reintroduction efforts while also providing sufficient time to minimize potential negative impacts on affected communities, residents, visitors, livestock producers and wildlife,” they said.
“I’m a strong wildlife advocate and this is not fair to the wolves. They’ll be in constant conflict, and we witnessed it with the release in Grand County, and it’ll happen here with the wolves that were just released. It’s not fair to the species … we’re too populated in Colorado,” Commissioner Perry Will said.
Will is probably the most qualified county commissioner to speak on the subject, as he spent nearly 40 years as a Colorado wildlife officer prior to serving as an elected official.
Commissioners explained that the geographic area put to Colorado voters for wolf release was all the land west of the continental divide.
“In reality — because of a 60-mile arbitrary buffer from the Utah and Wyoming borders, exclusion of the Brunot Treaty lands, a 60-mile buffer from exterior boundaries of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe Reservation, no federal permission for release, and the fact Rio Blanco just cut a deal with CPW to remove them as a release county — the actual release areas are now limited to only few Western Slope counties all of which voted to deny introduction of gray wolves, except Pitkin County,” they wrote in one voice.
Will added that he has serious concerns about the numbers of big game ungulates in the area and how that would impact the hunting and hunting economy in Western Colorado.
Commissioner Jankovsky, although thankful for CPW listening about not releasing wolves in Garfield County, said, “There are no good places on state lands to release wolves in Garfield County.”
“I believe that the only way we can get this taken care of is to get it back on the ballot with the proper wording and get it rescinded,” Commissioner Mike Samson added.
“We need everybody on the same page so that when it gets back on the ballot, it will be passed and we’ll be done with this, because it’s a very foolish endeavor that will cost the state of Colorado millions and millions of dollars,” Samson said.
When asked if Mesa County had any plans to add their support to neighboring Garfield County, Commissioner Cody Davis said, “We support Garfield County on this issue. We put out a letter in May asking for a pause as well.”