Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Wildlife Policy

Wolf removal risks ESA 10(j) protections, Director Davis says at special CPW commission meeting
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...
June 11 CPW meeting highlights failure to share data: “Producers left in the dark”
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...
Walcher: Who decides what species come back from extinction?
Approved, Commentary, GregWalcher.com, National

Walcher: Who decides what species come back from extinction?

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com A British biologist named John Gurdon won a Nobel Prize for discovering that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become “pluripotent.” That means mature cells can be converted into stem cells, so brain cells can be changed into heart, foot, or skin cells. That enabled Gurdon in 1962 to clone the first vertebrate in his lab, an African clawed frog, now considered an invasive species in most of Europe, China, and the U.S. This was interesting mainly to scientists until 1996 when a Scottish lab cloned the first mammal, a sheep named Dolly, an overnight global media sensation. It proved that the nucleus from an adult cell, transferred into an unfertilized egg, can divide and develop in the same mysterious way it does in a real womb. ...
Gabel: State land board pick once cheered eco-terrorism—now she could control 2.8M acres
Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Gabel: State land board pick once cheered eco-terrorism—now she could control 2.8M acres

By Rachel Gabel | Commentary, Denver Gazette Much of the land around Vail that is now developed as resorts, ski slopes, and golf courses first belonged to sheep ranchers with Greek roots. By the 1960s, development was pushing them out of the valley and activists were bemoaning the negative effect on wildlife that took place when livestock grazing was replaced by progress. In 1998, Vail Resorts was on the cusp of developing 2,2oo acres of backcountry. The plan riled activists, especially those devoted to preserving the habitats of elk and Canada Lynx that thrived before development came to town. Members of the radical Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the now-defunct Rocky Mountain Animal Defense (RMAD) marched and chanted through Vail with police on their tails, wielding decibel me...