Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Wolf reintroduction

Wolf reintroduction strains rural Colorado as payouts outpace budget
Approved, State, Westword

Wolf reintroduction strains rural Colorado as payouts outpace budget

By Catie Cheshire | Westword Colorado is eighteen months into the state’s wolf restoration project, and the teeth are still coming out. So far, the state has paid over $370,000 in claims to ranchers who have been impacted by the presence of wolves near their operations. Although wolf advocates and detractors both agree that Colorado should compensate people for wolf-related losses, ranchers believe the funds are not enough to cover the full breadth of the impact of the carnivores in this state. Conversely, wildlife advocates question if some of the reimbursements that ranchers have claimed are a good use of taxpayer money. The wolf-related claims that made many wildlife advocates howl came on December 31 from three ranchers in Middle Park. The ranchers argued the state s...
CPW tracks four suspected wolf dens, ranchers brace for more uncertainty
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...