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Author: Lindy Browning

Wolf 2307-OR died as a result of another wolf, not a gunshot wound as some theorized
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Wolf 2307-OR died as a result of another wolf, not a gunshot wound as some theorized

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Despite allegations and innuendos from animal rights activists, wolf 2307-OR died as a result of a fight with another wolf, not a gunshot wound last September. Wolf 2307-OR was found dead after his collar signaled that he had died, on Sept. 9, 2024, CPW reported in a press release Sept. 12, 20224, concerning the event three days earlier. CPW, at the time, said that 2307-OR was killed by another wolf, but then backtracked when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS) noted there was a gunshot injury. Months later, the pathology report concluded that the gunshot was not a factor in the wolf’s demise. In a Jan. 8 meeting of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, commissioners heard repeated accusations from pro-...
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Jackson County rancher is first to have a confirmed livestock kill by wolves in 2025
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Jackson County rancher is first to have a confirmed livestock kill by wolves in 2025

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain voice It only took six weeks in 2025 for the first confirmed wolf livestock depredation to be reported, this one from Jackson County.  A rancher has reported that a cow, which was due to calve within the month, was killed by an uncollared wolf in Jackson County, approximately 10 miles south of the Wyoming border. The name of the rancher is not being disclosed for privacy reasons. First reported by Shannon Lukens of Steamboat Radio, the rancher said that CPW has been out and confirmed that his cow was indeed killed by a wolf. According to the rancher, who to his misfortune had been a victim of wolf depredation in 2024 and who had his dog killed by a wolf 30 feet from his backdoor, went out to feed his cows on Feb. 4, and al...
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Boebert leads legislation to delist wolves from federal protection
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Boebert leads legislation to delist wolves from federal protection

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado 4th, and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wisc. 7th, have introduced the Pet and Livestock Protection Act to delist the gray wolf from the endangered species list and prioritize the safety and success of America's agriculture community. The bill would also remove the ability of a judge to rule against science, and allow states to set their own rules and regulations for the management of grey wolves. Ranchers, hunters and many people across the west who want to protect their livelihoods of their neighbors are finally feeling heard.  There is no place more than Colorado’s West Slope that supports this measure. In response to the proposed bill, Laurie J. from New Mexico said on social media,...
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CPW has kept wolf parasites causing Hydatid disease, which can be lethal to humans, secret from public
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CPW has kept wolf parasites causing Hydatid disease, which can be lethal to humans, secret from public

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer. Rocky Mountain Voice As if there aren’t enough controversies around the consequences of wolf reintroduction in Colorado — impacts to livestock growers, impacts to deer, elk and other ungulate herds — there is another danger that has gone mostly unspoken by wildlife officials. This danger is to humans, predominantly children, transferred to them by their beloved pets, after being exposed to the parasite. Echinococcus granulosus is a parasitic tapeworm that transfers to deer, domestic cattle, domestic sheep, elk and moose, along with domestic cattle, sheep, domestic pets and humans. Interestingly, infestations of the parasites are relatively benign to wolves, but for the ungulates wild and domestic, and pets, the risk of transfer to humans in...
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State’s failure to pass through federal funds to firefighting agencies is putting SW Colorado operations at risk
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State’s failure to pass through federal funds to firefighting agencies is putting SW Colorado operations at risk

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Emergency responders and firefighting agencies in Southwest Colorado are sounding the alarm and calling for immediate resolution to unpaid invoices going back, in some cases, to July 2024, because of, some say, utter incompetence by the State of Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control’s (DFPC) billing processing office. In a Jan. 27 meeting at the Upper Pine Fire District in Bayfield, county emergency management personnel, regional fire district leadership teams, representatives from multiple counties and state and local officials met to discuss the dysfunctions that could lead to an all-out crisis as the 2025 fire season approaches, because of a huge backlog in getting collective invoices for payment processed. ...
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Colorado’s GOP U.S. House members reject state GOP’s proposed bylaw changes, as Williams wants a debate
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Colorado’s GOP U.S. House members reject state GOP’s proposed bylaw changes, as Williams wants a debate

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice In what some denounce as an attempt to consolidate power for GOP Chairman Dave Williams, the Republican Party has proposed a last-minute change to the organization's bylaws on Jan. 30. Colorado Congressional Republicans, supported by state Senate Republicans, have written an open letter rejecting these changes. “As Colorado’s four Republican members of Congress, we write to express our united and unequivocal opposition to the proposed bylaw amendments under consideration by the Colorado Republican Party.  As a party, we should not be taking votes to radically change our rules under a lame-duck administration, additionally, these changes threaten to undermine our ability as a party to focus on the issues that matter most...
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U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd joined by constituents while taking ceremonial oath of office
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U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd joined by constituents while taking ceremonial oath of office

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice In consideration of constituents who elected him, and were not able to be at his swearing in, or who may have traveled to the inauguration, only to have it moved indoors, U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-3rd District, invited people to the U.S. District Court house on Monday, Jan. 27, to attend a ceremonial swearing into office. The Hon. Gordon Gallagher presided over the ceremony, where there was a standing-room only crowd.  “We are here today for the ceremonial swearing in of Congressman Jeff Hurd. I say ceremonial because the 119th Congress was officially sworn in several weeks ago in Washington, D.C., and he is already hard at work," Gallagher said. Judge Gallagher had obviously given a great deal of thought to his ceremon...
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Garfield County commissioners ‘demand a pause’ in wolf reintroduction program
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Garfield County commissioners ‘demand a pause’ in wolf reintroduction program

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...
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Browning: Gov. Polis should focus on being governor for all, not just for Front Range special interests
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Browning: Gov. Polis should focus on being governor for all, not just for Front Range special interests

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado Parks and Wildlife senior staff in Denver told the joint Senate and House Agriculture and Natural Resource Committee that their lack of transparency and secrecy is because of their local field staff having been threatened, followed and harassed as they perform the 2025 wolf reintroduction operations. Elected officials from both sides of the political aisle aren’t buying it. It became more than clear at the meeting between CPW senior staff and legislators, held Jan. 15, that not only is CPW senior staff keeping the public on the Western Slope in the dark, but also elected officials.  All of the elected Senate and House members criticized the senior staff for their lack of transparency, not only with ...
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In clandestine operation, 20 wolves have been released in Pitkin and Eagle County
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In clandestine operation, 20 wolves have been released in Pitkin and Eagle County

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Residents in Pitkin and Eagle counties have some new international neighbors, a press release from Colorado Parks and Wildlife reads. Fifteen wolves from British Columbia — eight females and seven males — were rounded up by helicopter and darted from the air, then placed in pens while veterinarians examined and treated the wolves for parasites, and vaccinated them against rabies, canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus, canine parainfluenza virus and canine parvovirus. Along with the 15 wolves from British Columbia, the remaining members of the livestock-killing Copper Creek pack — a female and four pups — were released after being caught and penned at a wildlife sanctuary since last August.   “In British Columbia,...
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