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Tag: Wolf reintroduction

Does anyone care about the wolves? Or just the politics behind them
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GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Does anyone care about the wolves? Or just the politics behind them

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com If you were a grey wolf, it would be hard to imagine a more hostile environment than this state, into which 25 wolves have been involuntarily and violently extradited from their natural homes. It is reminiscent of illegal immigrants from south of the border being deported to prisons in unfamiliar countries like South Sudan and Uzbekistan. Those people have at least been accused of committing some crime. But what exactly have these wolves done to deserve such a fate? Wolves are among history’s most hated creatures. Writers have taught children for centuries to fear the Big Bad Wolf. Think of the villains in “Little Red Riding Hood” and at least three other Grimm’s fairy tales, or “The Three Little Pigs,” or at least four Ae...
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Colorado Confirms 14th Wolf Death Since Voter Mandated Reintroduction
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Confirms 14th Wolf Death Since Voter Mandated Reintroduction

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The 14th wolf to die in Colorado since their reintroduction about two years ago took place during a “collaring” operation in the northwestern region of the state last week. Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the wolf, identified as #2305 — meaning it was one of the original 10 animals that came from Oregon — died on Jan. 28 in Routt County. The wolf was the male of the breeding pair that produced the King Mountain pack last year. Of the original 10 wolves from Oregon, five have now died. Two yearlings from the Copper Creek pack, whose mating pair were from Oregon, also died. Another seven wolves from the original 15 of the British Columbia wolves have also died. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT COLORADO POLITICS
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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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The warning before SPEED: How an ongoing Colorado wolf dispute shaped the permitting debate
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The warning before SPEED: How an ongoing Colorado wolf dispute shaped the permitting debate

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Before Congress voted to overhaul the nation’s permitting process, a Colorado lawmaker had already issued a formal warning that federal law was being set aside in the rush to move forward. On December 13, 2024, Rep. Lauren Boebert sent a detailed letter to then–Interior Secretary Deb Haaland arguing that Colorado’s wolf reintroduction plan triggered federal jurisdiction and could not legally proceed without updated federal Resource Management Plans and a proper National Environmental Policy Act review. She asked the Department of the Interior to press pause on any additional wolf imports until those federal duties were met. More than a year later, the House passed the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic De...
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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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Colorado Cannot Afford to Leave Its Pioneering Communities Behind
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado Cannot Afford to Leave Its Pioneering Communities Behind

By Tiffany Dickenson | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado was built by pioneers. That pioneering spirit still defines the rural communities that grow our food, produce our energy, protect our water, and carry the transportation and natural resource backbone of this state. These communities have never asked for special treatment. They have always done the hard work without complaint and have carried Colorado through every major challenge for generations.  Today, they are being asked to carry far more than their share.  A wave of overlapping state mandates, rising costs, and policy decisions made on the Front Range is hitting rural Colorado all at once. These challenges are reshaping the economic landscape of the Western Slope and other rural regions. If Colorado’s...
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CPW Director Steps Down After Turbulent Wolf Reintroduction Fight
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

CPW Director Steps Down After Turbulent Wolf Reintroduction Fight

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Davis, who led reintroduction of wolves to Colorado, will move into an executive role in the Department of Natural Resources. Maj. Gen Laura Clellan will lead CPW until new boss is hired. The director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, who ushered in the state’s wolf reintroduction program amid widespread scrutiny over many of his decisions, is stepping down.  Jeff Davis announced Tuesday he will move to the Colorado Department of Natural Resources executive director’s office as a senior policy advisor for strategic priorities.  Replacing him as interim director is retired Maj. Gen. Laura Clellan, formerly the executive director of the Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. She will start Dec. 1.  A statement from...
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