Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Tag: Livestock Depredation

Feds threaten takeover of Colorado wolf management amid compliance dispute
No Comments
The Coloradoan, Approved, State

Feds threaten takeover of Colorado wolf management amid compliance dispute

By Miles Blumhardt | The Coloradoan Colorado is now facing a potential federal takeover of its wolf reintroduction program. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will take over management of wolves in Colorado unless the state adequately addresses compliance issues under its memorandum of agreement with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, according to a letter sent from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik to Lauren Clellan, Colorado Parks and Wildlife acting director. The letter, dated Dec. 18 and obtained by the Coloradoan through an open records request, states if a complete report of all gray wolf conservation and management activities that occurred from Dec. 12, 2023, to the present is not supplied within 60 days of the letter, the U.S. Fish and Wildlif...
Read More
Wolf Suspected in Livestock Losses Evades CPW Efforts
No Comments
Local, Approved, kdvr.com

Wolf Suspected in Livestock Losses Evades CPW Efforts

By Heather Willard | KDVR Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife said that after days of searching, teams failed to kill an uncollared wolf that has been determined to be at fault in six livestock deaths in Rio Blanco County. Wildfires in the area delayed CPW’s ability to lethally remove the wolf, CPW announced on Aug. 5, which allowed another depredation event on Aug. 16, in which three lambs were found dead. Depredations, in this case, refer to a wolf stealing or killing a rancher’s product or livestock. Teams from CPW and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service-Wildlife Services were deployed on Aug. 16 to kill the depredating gray wolf, CPW said. “The decision to pursue lethal actions is never an easy one, but the events in...
Read More
CPW moves to kill second wolf from Copper Creek Pack after July depredation
No Comments
kdvr.com, Approved, State

CPW moves to kill second wolf from Copper Creek Pack after July depredation

By Heather Willard | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff are in the field to kill a member of the Copper Creek gray wolf pack after repeated livestock deaths. The action comes nearly two months after CPW killed a gray wolf in Pitkin County connected to the same pack. CPW told FOX31 on Tuesday that its staff is in the field in Pitkin County, “undertaking additional lethal control efforts” that align with the agency’s and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s rules on chronic depredation and lethal removal of depredating wolves. Depredations, in this case, refer to a wolf stealing or killing a rancher’s product or livestock. The news comes on the heels of a calf depredation discovered on July 18. CPW stated that the calf appeared to have been injured ...
Read More
Wolf removal risks ESA 10(j) protections, Director Davis says at special CPW commission meeting
No Comments
DENVER7, Approved, State

Wolf removal risks ESA 10(j) protections, Director Davis says at special CPW commission meeting

By Stephanie Butzer , Colette Bordelon | Denver7 Denver7 listened into Monday's special CPW Commission meeting about the wolf pack's recent depredations and future. The Copper Creek Pack in Pitkin County was in the spotlight during a special meeting of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Commission on Monday afternoon, where the commission solidified its decision not to direct CPW to take any action on the wolf pack for now, saying it is outside the commission's responsibilities. The CPW Commission held the special meeting virtually, which began around 12:30 p.m. and lasted for about two hours. Public comment was not included in the agenda, something producers who spoke with Denver7 felt was lacking from the conversation. New CPW Commission Chair Richard Readin...
Read More
Gazette editorial board: Congress should back Boebert’s bill to delist gray wolves—rural livelihoods matter
No Comments
denvergazette.com, Approved, National

Gazette editorial board: Congress should back Boebert’s bill to delist gray wolves—rural livelihoods matter

The Gazette editorial board | Commentary, Denver Gazette Congress should pass U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s Pet and Livestock Protection Act of 2025, which would remove the gray wolf from the federal Endangered Species Act. This bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Tom Tiffany and Colorado’s Republican delegation — Reps. Jeff Crank, Gabe Evans, and Jeff Hurd — addresses a critical imbalance: protecting a thriving species at the expense of Colorado’s endangered farmers and ranchers. The gray wolf’s recovery is a success story, and delisting it federally is a step toward prioritizing human livelihoods while maintaining state-level management. The gray wolf, listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1978 when fewer than 1,000 roamed the lower 48 states, has rebounded impressively. By 2020, the U...
Read More
“Too many wolves”: Congress and DOI signal shift on gray wolf policy
No Comments
Top Stories, Approved, National, Rocky Mountain Voice

“Too many wolves”: Congress and DOI signal shift on gray wolf policy

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice At a House Natural Resources Committee hearing last week, frustration among ranchers, landowners and state officials across the West boiled over. What followed wasn’t just venting—it was a coordinated push by lawmakers and the Interior Department to delist the gray wolf and rein in the Endangered Species Act’s long hold on predator policy. “The ESA was never meant to be a Hotel California—where you can check in but never leave,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, borrowing a now-familiar line from Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman to describe how species once listed rarely come off. “We’ve far exceeded the original goals… in some cases by more than twofold.” Burgum’s comments came in response to multiple lawmakers from Colorado, Cal...
Read More
June 11 CPW meeting highlights failure to share data: “Producers left in the dark”
No Comments
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...
Read More
Sixth wolf death of 2025 confirmed—CPW says ‘wolf population will continue to grow’
No Comments
Approved, DENVER7, State

Sixth wolf death of 2025 confirmed—CPW says ‘wolf population will continue to grow’

By Stephanie Butzer | Denver7 Another gray wolf that was brought to Colorado as part of the state's reintroduction program has died, Colorado and federal officials said on Monday afternoon. In a press release on Monday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said they received a mortality alert for a male wolf in northwest Colorado on May 31. The wolf had been brought to Colorado from Canada as part of the January 2025 reintroduction, CPW confirmed to Denver7. It is the fifth wolf from the original 15 released that month that has died. As with any wolf death in Colorado, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating because gray wolves are a federally listed species under the Endangered Species Act. The USFWS will determine its cause of death. That investigation is ongoing. ...
Read More

FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B[1]

Join us at RMV's Freedom Festival

Click Here for Tickets!

This will close in 0 seconds