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Federal Pressure Forces Colorado To Halt Wolf Reintroductions
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Federal Pressure Forces Colorado To Halt Wolf Reintroductions

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette Colorado Parks and Wildlife, facing mounting criticism from the Trump administration over its management of the wolf reintroduction program, announced Wednesday they will not bring in any new wolves to the state for the 2026 winter season. CPW was turned down in November by Washington state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Washington residents criticized Colorado for mismanaging the program. CPW director Jeff Davis resigned in lieu of termination weeks later. The CPW announcement didn’t mention the pushback the agency is getting from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which on Dec. 18 demanded Colorado provide a complete report of all gray wolf conservation and management activities...
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Colorado Unveils Detailed Plan to Restore Wolverines to High Country
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Unveils Detailed Plan to Restore Wolverines to High Country

By Spencer Wilson | CBS Colorado Colorado Parks and Wildlife has released more information about how, where, and why it plans to reintroduce wolverines into the state and why wildlife officials say Colorado is critical to the species' future. The 106-page report details the plans behind the bipartisan effort. The state confirmed plans to reintroduce wolverines in 2024, but until now, many of the specifics had not been made public. The newly released plan outlines a multi-year strategy, highlighting distinct differences between this effort and Colorado's controversial gray wolf reintroduction. Colorado currently has no resident wolverines. CWP said in the report that the species was wiped out nearly a century ago through poisoning, trapping, and "pre...
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Feds threaten takeover of Colorado wolf management amid compliance dispute
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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...
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Colorado Coyote Debate Reveals Sharp Divide Between Ranchers and Activists
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Coyote Debate Reveals Sharp Divide Between Ranchers and Activists

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–A recent Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s (CPW) stakeholder report shows a wide gap between agriculture producers and animal welfare activists when it comes to management of coyotes.     The stakeholder report, released in early December, summarizes four months of CPW meetings with rural interests, such as ranchers and sportsman, along with animal welfare and environmental activists. CPW held these meetings to explore potential changes to current furbearing animal management.  While the two sides found common ground on management strategies of most other animals, coyotes were the one species the groups could not compromise over.    Ranchers, sportsmen, and rural landowners expressed the ...
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Grand County Demands Answers After State Returns Problem Wolf
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Grand County Demands Answers After State Returns Problem Wolf

By Christa Swanson | CBS Colorado In a letter to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Grand County commissioners demanded answers after a gray wolf that recently wandered into New Mexico was returned. They accused the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife of violating the Wolf Restoration and Management Plan by returning the wolf to the area, citing a history of depredation. The letter accused the department of ignoring the problem this causes for local ranchers: "Wolf 2403 is a known depredator whose pack's actions have resulted in nearly $450,000 in compensation to Grand County ranchers alone. By re-releasing 2403 back into the county where its pack had previously been removed due to chronic depredation, the state is effectively "translocating the problem" for a ...
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Bill Passes House of Representatives to End Federal Protections for Gray Wolves
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Outdoor Life, Approved, National

Bill Passes House of Representatives to End Federal Protections for Gray Wolves

By Kris Millgate | Outdoor Life The bill, known as the Pet and Livestock Protection Act, seeks to delist gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act Gray wolves in the Lower 48 have bounced on and off the Endangered Species Act list for years now. And on Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would remove federal protections yet again and bring wolf management back to the states. The Pet and Livestock Protection Act cleared the House by a vote of 211 to 204. The bill, sponsored by Reps. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO), aims to delist the populations of gray wolves that remain protected under the ESA in 44 states. The species is already delisted in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, as well as in the eastern thirds of Oregon and...
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Wolf Reintroduction Costs Mount as Colorado Faces Another Budget Shortfall
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Approved, Aspen Times, State

Wolf Reintroduction Costs Mount as Colorado Faces Another Budget Shortfall

By: Ali Longwell | The Aspen Times A Joint Budget Committee briefing looked at how Parks and Wildlife has spent general fund allocations on wolves. To implement Colorado's voter-mandated reintroduction of gray wolves, the state legislature annually allocates $2.1 million as well as additional funds for compensating ranchers for wolf-related livestock losses. Colorado Parks and Wildlife/Courtesy Photo Colorado lawmakers continue to raise questions about the cost of the state’s wolf reintroduction during the early phases of the annual budgeting process for 2026. On Tuesday, Dec. 9, the Joint Budget Committee was briefed by committee staff on the 2026 budget for the Department of Natural Resources, which includes Colorado Parks and Wildlife.  It’s the second step in th...
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State Leaders Should Pause Colorado Wolf Effort After Series of Blunders
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The Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

State Leaders Should Pause Colorado Wolf Effort After Series of Blunders

By The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Gazette Five years after Coloradans voted by a razor-thin margin to reintroduce wolves to Colorado, they are right to look at the job state officials and agencies have done and ponder whether this a dog that just doesn’t hunt. Amid criticism from pro-wolf advocates and anti-reintroduction ranchers alike, is it past time for a moratorium? The latest bungled bit in the state’s fumbling reintroduction saga is the “stepping down” — demotion, reassignment, whatever public-relations-friendly term you prefer — of former Colorado Parks & Wildlife Director Jeff Davis. Before the end of last month, and amid the holiday news haze preceding Thanksgiving, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources announced Davis “stepped down” and wa...
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Copper Creek Wolves Linked to Another Livestock Killing in Gunnison County
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Copper Creek Wolves Linked to Another Livestock Killing in Gunnison County

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette A heifer found dead in eastern Gunnison County on Nov. 22 was killed by one of the yearlings from the Copper Creek wolf pack, according to a rancher, who did not want to be identified. It’s the fourth livestock death in November attributed to wolves. Two calves and a ewe were also killed by wolves in November in Routt, Pitkin and Rio Blanco counties, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The Copper Creek pack is believed to be responsible for numerous livestock deaths in Pitkin, Gunnison and Grand counties. One of the yearlings was killed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) staff in May in Pitkin County after a weekend of livestock killings; a second was shot by wildlife officers in Rio Blanco County in September after it killed si...
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Latest CPW Data Shows Wolves Moving Toward Boulder and Jeffco
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Latest CPW Data Shows Wolves Moving Toward Boulder and Jeffco

By: Stephanie Butzer | Denver7 Since the 2023 approval of the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, CPW has said that wolves are expected to expand widely over the years, including to the Front Range. DENVER — A new map shows more gray wolf activity along the Front Range than previous records, with at least one animal — if not more — exploring central Boulder County and northern Jefferson County. According to the latest wolf movement map released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Wednesday afternoon, the wolves have been moving around the watersheds northwest of the Denver metro area up toward Boulder and appear closer than ever to the Front Range. The below map shows watersheds outlined in purple. If it is filled in, it means that at least one collared wol...
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