NEPA - Rocky Mountain Voice

Wolves roam, pups are born, riders deployed—but land-use plans still stuck in 2023

Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, State, Top Stories / May 13, 2025 / Colorado Ranchers, CPW, General Management Plan, Land and Resource Management Plan, NEPA, Range Riders, Resource Management Plan, Wolf Depredation, Wolf reintroduction, Wolves

Wolves are roaming, ranchers are riding – but the rulebook hasn’t changed. Wolves are traveling farther, forming dens and producing pups. Many have turned up dead—especially in Wyoming, where wolves that prey on livestock can be killed on sight under state law.

Yet not one federal or state land-use plan in Colorado has been updated since gray wolf reintroduction began in December 2023.

That’s the backdrop for Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s May 13 press release announcing that its Range Rider Program is fully operational and patrolling western Colorado.

Eleven contracted riders hired by CPW have joined two staff from the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) to monitor livestock, haze predators and report signs of wolf-livestock conflict across nine counties.

Wolves roam, pups are born, riders deployed—but land-use plans still stuck in 2023 Read More »

Rewriting the rules: Wolves, federal reform and a lawsuit from rural Colorado

Late last year, five wolves were airlifted from Oregon to Colorado under a plan voters narrowly approved—but few knew one of them came from a pack with a history of livestock attacks.

Fewer still knew the move may have violated federal law.

At the center of the controversy is a growing belief that Colorado’s wolf reintroduction bypassed environmental law and public transparency.

And a federal lawsuit now threatens to unravel the entire plan.