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Tag: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

June 11 CPW meeting highlights failure to share data: “Producers left in the dark”
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Approved, State, The Fence Post

June 11 CPW meeting highlights failure to share data: “Producers left in the dark”

By Rachel Gabel | Fence Post Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commissioner Tai Jacober said it’s “ugly” right now for Pitkin County livestock producers. In the June 11 CPW Commission meeting, he said when a particular pack of wolves, the Copper Creek pack, were causing problems for livestock producers, CPW and the commission made decisions that have landed the wolves and the producers again, in a problematic situation. Jacober criticized the decision to go “against the management plan and capture the wolves, went further against the management plan and rereleased the wolves, and here we are today.” “Not only is it a blunder on the agency, it’s a blunder on the wolves, and it’s really difficult on the ranchers,” he said. “It seems we’ve removed one wolf — a yearling wolf that was kicked...
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Wolf claims top $650K, but CPW records don’t add up
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Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Wolf claims top $650K, but CPW records don’t add up

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The state wolf compensation fund, set at $350,000 by statute last year, saw claims from 2024 that are approaching double that amount. Data obtained through an open records request to Colorado Parks and Wildlife showed that the agency paid out $425,478.61 in claims. But the information provided by the agency appears to exclude claims that were denied, recent claims paid and claims still awaiting final payments or settlements. Based on information independently verified by Colorado Politics, the total amount of claims stood at at least $649,765.90, with a dozen claims still showing as pending on CPW's wolf depredation website. Two ranchers in Grand County settled for lesser amounts, which are not reflected in the data obtained from...
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Multiple wolf attacks hit Western Slope ranchers—CPW accused of broken promises
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Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

Multiple wolf attacks hit Western Slope ranchers—CPW accused of broken promises

By Tracy Ross | Colorado Sun Three ranches near where wolves were released in January say Colorado Parks and Wildlife is not keeping its promise to let them know when the collared animals are near Ranchers are calling multiple wolf attacks on cattle over Memorial Day weekend in Pitkin County “devastating” and evidence Colorado Parks and Wildlife is failing to keep its promise to alert ranchers when wolves are in range of their livestock.   The attacks occurred over three days on the Crystal River Ranch, in the Crystal River Valley, and on the Lost Marbles and McCabe ranches, in the Roaring Fork Valley.  The first happened early Friday morning on the Crystal River Ranch, according to Tom Harrington, manager of the ranch and president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association....
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Activism over science? Proposed ballot measure #82 would gut CPW authority, opponents say
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Activism over science? Proposed ballot measure #82 would gut CPW authority, opponents say

By Amanda Hardin | Rocky Mountain Voice Correction: We mistakenly said Initiative #82 was already in the signature-gathering stage. As of June 2, 2025, it hasn’t gone before the Title Board yet and isn’t cleared to collect signatures. We regret the error and have updated the article accordingly. Critics across Colorado’s hunting, ranching, and wildlife management communities are sounding the alarm over a 2026 ballot measure they say could upend science-based conservation and rural land rights. Initiative #82, called the Colorado Wildlife and Biodiversity Protection Act, would create a new regulatory body, the Wildlife and Ecosystem Conservation Commission (WECC). The commission would hold far-reaching powers over endangered species protections, wildlife corridors, land use, and ev...
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From guns to gray wolves: 9 new laws reshape CPW’s future
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Approved, State, Summit Daily

From guns to gray wolves: 9 new laws reshape CPW’s future

By Ali Longwell | Summit Daily The state wildlife agency is tasked with implementing new legislation — some it asked for and some it did not Over 120 days, Colorado lawmakers introduced over 650 bills in the 2025 legislative session. Among those that passed were several that will have implications for Colorado Parks and Wildlife as it tackles illegal wildlife traffic, manages hunting and sport shooting activities, continues the voter-mandated reintroduction of gray wolves and more. Senate Bill 2: How Colorado’s gun control bill will affect Parks and Wildlife One of the major bills this legislative session was a gun control bill measure that requires new training and background checks before individuals can purchase semi-automatic guns that accept detachable magazines. Parks ...
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Tracking collar signals death of female wolf in northwest Colorado, marks fourth this year
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Approved, Aspen Times, State

Tracking collar signals death of female wolf in northwest Colorado, marks fourth this year

By Ali Longwell | Aspen Times One of Colorado’s reintroduced wolves died on Thursday, May 15, in the state’s northwest region.  Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials confirmed on Friday that they received a mortality alert on the female wolf’s collar on Thursday. The agency provided no additional details on the incident or the cause of death.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will conduct the investigation and necropsy to determine what caused its death.   The wolf’s death marks the fourth death this year of the 15 animals that Parks and Wildlife brought from British Columbia in January.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE ASPEN TIMES
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CPW tracks four suspected wolf dens, ranchers brace for more uncertainty
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Approved, Post Independent, State

CPW tracks four suspected wolf dens, ranchers brace for more uncertainty

By Ali Longwell | Post Independent For wolves, the beginning of May signals the end of denning season.  While Colorado Parks and Wildlife is tracking up to four pairs of wolves that could be denning, none have been confirmed, according to Eric Odell, the agency’s wolf conservation program manager. “We are monitoring one to three to four pairs of animals that could be denning,” Odell said at the May 7 meeting for the agency’s commission.  The agency is “sussing out” these potential dens using data from the GPS collars that the majority of Colorado’s wolves are wearing.  “When we have followed a couple of animals that are paired, male-female pairs, and we lose contact with the female, potentially that means (she’s) underground, or she’s spent some time digging a...
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Colorado’s wolf plan ignores the one thing wolves don’t: borders
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Approved, National, State, The Fence Post

Colorado’s wolf plan ignores the one thing wolves don’t: borders

By Ali Longwell | The Fence Post Over the last month, two of Colorado’s latest gray wolf transplants were killed after crossing the border into Wyoming.  Colorado Parks and Wildlife expects these types of movements into other states from the reintroduced wolf population. The species is known for traveling long distances in search of food or mates.  However, once the wolves leave Colorado, they lose certain protections afforded to them by both state and federal laws. But just how those protections change, and what might happen to them, depends entirely on which way they travel. In Colorado, gray wolves are considered “state endangered” in addition to being listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act and as an experimental population under a ...
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Federal agency kills Colorado wolf connected to sheep deaths in Wyoming 
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Approved, State, The Post Independent

Federal agency kills Colorado wolf connected to sheep deaths in Wyoming 

By Ali Longwell | The Post Independent One of the male wolves that Colorado Parks and Wildlife relocated from British Columbia to Colorado in January has died.  The state wildlife agency confirmed on Thursday that it received a mortality alert for the wolf (2505-BC) on Sunday, March 16. The wolf was in north-central Wyoming at the time.  The wolf was killed following the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s investigation and response to a sheep predation event on private land in north-central Wyoming, according to Tanya Espinosa, a spokesperson for the federal agency.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE POST INDEPENDENT
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