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Tag: Wolf reintroduction

Wolf Program Hits $8 Million as Critics Ask Who Really Benefits
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State, Approved, Colorado Politics

Wolf Program Hits $8 Million as Critics Ask Who Really Benefits

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Colorado has now spent more than $8 million over five years on the wolf restoration program, according to a presentation made at Thursday's Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting in Grand Junction. Justin Rutter, the assistant director for financial and capital services at Colorado Parks and Wildlife, also addressed the apparent discrepancy between the General Assembly's Blue Book estimate of the annual program cost, which is around $800,000. He noted a caveat in the Blue Book language around the program's cost, one that said, "actual state spending will depend on the details of the plan," developed by the commission, and the cost to compensate for livestock losses caused by wolves. Those additional costs since the ballot measure...
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Rancher gets additional $100K for livestock wolf kills in 6-5 CPW commission vote after heated debate
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Rancher gets additional $100K for livestock wolf kills in 6-5 CPW commission vote after heated debate

By Tracy Ross | Colorado Sun The Colorado Parks and Wildlife commission voted 6-5 to compensate rancher Conway Farrell after a heated debate that revealed division on the commission. A rancher who received $287,408 in compensation for livestock killed by wolves in 2024 was granted an additional $100,046 on Thursday, after the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission narrowly approved his latest claim.  The vote on the table was for the commission to adopt CPW staff’s recommendation to deny rancher Conway Farrell’s claim for direct losses of 89 calves during the time wolves were known to be attacking his sheep and cattle in 2024. The commission voted 6-5 to reject the guidance, effectively granting Farrell’s request.  Commissioners Gabriel Otero, Eden Vardy, Frances S...
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CPW Confirms More Wolf Packs While Keeping Ranchers in the Dark
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

CPW Confirms More Wolf Packs While Keeping Ranchers in the Dark

By Scott Franz | The Colorado Sun Colorado’s wolf population grew this spring with the formation of three new packs. The state designated the new wolf families as the One Ear Pack in Jackson County, the King Mountain Pack in Routt County and the Three Creeks Pack in Rio Blanco County. They join the Copper Creek pack, which formed in Grand County last year and was moved to Pitkin County in January. The new pack designations were mentioned in a “wolf update” slideshow presentation, which was included in the online agenda for an upcoming Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting on Thursday. CPW has not announced how many pups have been confirmed in each of the new packs. Last year, the agency did not name the Copper Creek pack until pups were confirmed. Earlier this year, CPW s...
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Gaines: Watch the framing—Karlik’s slant and Polis’ quiet appointments
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Gaines: Watch the framing—Karlik’s slant and Polis’ quiet appointments

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Colorado Politics' Karlik lets his bias slip (again). Colorado Politics judicial reporter Michael Karlik is back at it (see the first link below for an earlier post about his reporting). If it's not using his pen to question the motives of a conservative judge, it's tossing softballs at a liberal judge rather than challenging him. It's framing his questions in such a way as to clearly indicate what the point of the whole endeavor has been. The Colorado Politics article linked second below is a Q and A Karlik had with retired judge John Leopold** to discuss Leopold's signing an amicus brief about the arrests of Minnesota Judge Hannah Dugan. She was the one who hustled someone ICE had a warrant for out the back door whe...
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Wolf removal risks ESA 10(j) protections, Director Davis says at special CPW commission meeting
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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...
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“Too many wolves”: Congress and DOI signal shift on gray wolf policy
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Top Stories, Approved, National, Rocky Mountain Voice

“Too many wolves”: Congress and DOI signal shift on gray wolf policy

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice At a House Natural Resources Committee hearing last week, frustration among ranchers, landowners and state officials across the West boiled over. What followed wasn’t just venting—it was a coordinated push by lawmakers and the Interior Department to delist the gray wolf and rein in the Endangered Species Act’s long hold on predator policy. “The ESA was never meant to be a Hotel California—where you can check in but never leave,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, borrowing a now-familiar line from Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman to describe how species once listed rarely come off. “We’ve far exceeded the original goals… in some cases by more than twofold.” Burgum’s comments came in response to multiple lawmakers from Colorado, Cal...
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Wolf pups den near Colorado cattle—rancher calls policy ‘the dumbest thing in the world’
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Outdoor Life, State

Wolf pups den near Colorado cattle—rancher calls policy ‘the dumbest thing in the world’

By Natalie Krebs | Outdoor Life One rancher says the Copper Creek Pack, which has a history of hunting and killing livestock, is raising pups just a quarter mile from his cattle Wolf pups have been spotted in Pitkin County, Colorado, according to several sources, including a rancher whose calf was attacked by wolves this spring. Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed that it has seen pups in an emailed statement to Outdoor Life, and that their employees are continuing to monitor four den sites.  “CPW staff have begun to get minimum counts of pups by both direct observations and indirect methods,” the spokesperson wrote. “It is important to note that sighting numbers (especially from early season sightings) are not a guaranteed number of animals since certainty in det...
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June 11 CPW meeting highlights failure to share data: “Producers left in the dark”
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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...
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McCombie: Initiative 82 revives push to restrict hunting, override expert conservation
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Approved, Commentary, NRA Hunters' Leadership Forum, State

McCombie: Initiative 82 revives push to restrict hunting, override expert conservation

By Brian McCombie | Commentary, NRA Hunters' Leadership Forum Colorado anti-hunters are making yet another push to wrest control of that state’s wildlife from wildlife professionals. This time, it is the recently proposed Ballot Initiative 82, the “Colorado Wildlife & Biodiversity Protection Act.” At its core, Initiative 82 would create an independent commission parallel to the current Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission. This independent commission would then draw up legal protections for unnamed “keystone species” and assess financial penalties for any violations of these protections. If approved by voters in the state’s 2026 election, $2.5 million in taxpayer dollars will fund this commission. It then will decide what exactly are the “keystone species,” though observers ...
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Sixth wolf death of 2025 confirmed—CPW says ‘wolf population will continue to grow’
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Approved, DENVER7, State

Sixth wolf death of 2025 confirmed—CPW says ‘wolf population will continue to grow’

By Stephanie Butzer | Denver7 Another gray wolf that was brought to Colorado as part of the state's reintroduction program has died, Colorado and federal officials said on Monday afternoon. In a press release on Monday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said they received a mortality alert for a male wolf in northwest Colorado on May 31. The wolf had been brought to Colorado from Canada as part of the January 2025 reintroduction, CPW confirmed to Denver7. It is the fifth wolf from the original 15 released that month that has died. As with any wolf death in Colorado, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating because gray wolves are a federally listed species under the Endangered Species Act. The USFWS will determine its cause of death. That investigation is ongoing. ...
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