staging.rockymountainvoice.com

Menu

Tag: Wolves

Smart Wolf Policy group organizes to recall failed Colorado wolf law
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Smart Wolf Policy group organizes to recall failed Colorado wolf law

 By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado Advocates for Smart Wolf Policy (SWPCO) has submitted a draft statutory proposition for the 2026 election to the Colorado Legislative Council, which, if successful, would return wildlife management back to experts and biologists who are assigned to manage the 903 wildlife species in Colorado. It would turn back attempts to ask voters, who neither have the expertise or experience, to dictate wildlife policy. It is being viewed as good news for the millions of Coloradoans who voted against Prop. 114 in 2020. It is the first step necessary to repeal the 2020 “reintroduction and management of gray wolves law,” reads a press release. “Right now, we have to dance to the tune of the State Title Board. Once we are...
Read More
Browning: Where we’ve been and how it’s going in the ‘Great Colorado Wolf Experiment’
No Comments
Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Browning: Where we’ve been and how it’s going in the ‘Great Colorado Wolf Experiment’

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice It’s been just more than a year since Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) began implementing the 2020 narrowly-approved Proposition 114 to reintroduce the gray wolf.  So far, there doesn’t seem to be anyone who is calling the effort a success. CPW employees are being ostracized in their communities, ranchers and livestock growers are taking significant losses, people on the Western Slope feel stomped on by Front Range voters and state government officials’ progressive agendas. Even the wolves themselves are suffering, all over a decision made by emotional voters who have no expertise in either wildlife management or predator/prey relationships, and who were not given all the information that they needed to mak...
Read More
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offers reward for information on Colorado wolf’s death
No Comments
coloradopolitics.com, State

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offers reward for information on Colorado wolf’s death

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The US Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a reward for information regarding the killing of the male of the Copper Creek wolf pack. The male, known as 2309-OR, was captured in Grand County on Aug. 30 and died on Sept. 3. He was found to be in poor condition. USFWS said a necropsy, which has not yet been released because the investigation is ongoing, revealed that a gunshot wound "initiated the poor condition of the wolf and ultimately led to the cause of death." Wolf 2309-OR was one of 10 wolves from Oregon, which came from packs with a history of killing livestock in that state, that were relocated to Colorado a year ago. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
Read More
Wolf killed in Grand County was shot; federal officials seeking information
No Comments
kdvr.com, State

Wolf killed in Grand County was shot; federal officials seeking information

By Jacob Factor | Fox 31 News Federal officials are seeking information in the illegal deadly shooting of one of the reintroduced gray wolves that died in Grand County in 2024. The wolf, one of three that died in 2024, was the adult male wolf of the Copper Creek pack Colorado Parks and Wildlife captured in 2024 that repeatedly attacked livestock, prompting the whole pack’s capture. The male wolf died less than a week after his capture, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said at the time. Parks and Wildlife staff found the wolf already in poor condition, with several injuries to his right hind leg and a body weight nearly 30 percent lower than when he was released. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 31 NEWS
Read More
Ranchers hit CPW with $580k in compensation claims for livestock impacted by wolves
No Comments
State, The Colorado Sun

Ranchers hit CPW with $580k in compensation claims for livestock impacted by wolves

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Ranchers in Grand County hit Colorado Parks and Wildlife with a $582,000 bill for wolf kills and related impacts on cattle and sheep in the first year of reintroduction, and they are hoping the sum will convince the parks and wildlife commission to pause the next phase of the program at its meeting in Denver on Jan. 8.  The claims are from three producers and center around attacks on livestock in 2024. A breakdown includes $18,411.71 for confirmed attacks resulting in injury or death of cows, calves and sheep; $173,526.63 for yearling cattle, calves and sheep reported missing from ranches with a confirmed attack or death; $216,772.20 for cattle from said ranches taken to market with a lower-than-normal weight; $172,754.64 for lower conception rat...
Read More
Wolf collar pings south of I-70 once again, as seen in updated tracking map from CPW
No Comments
Out There Colorado, State

Wolf collar pings south of I-70 once again, as seen in updated tracking map from CPW

By Spencer McKee | Out There Colorado Another month has passed and another map tracking wolf movement around the state has been released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The most recent map covers the date range of Nov. 26 through Dec. 22 and keep in mind, the map depicts watershed areas where tracking collars placed on the wolves have been during that timeframe. It doesn't mean wolves are present in that entire area and it doesn't mean they're still present in those watersheds now. In general, the new mapping doesn't seem to capture hugely noteworthy movements compared to mapping from last month. READ THE FULL STORY AT OUT THERE COLORADO
Read More
Colorado wildlife officials omit crucial portion of law as they defend wolf funding
No Comments
coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado wildlife officials omit crucial portion of law as they defend wolf funding

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The hunt for coins in the couch cushions — the Colorado General Assembly's budget crafters are scrambling to find hundreds of millions of dollars to cover a shortfall projected for the 2025-26 budget and are eyeing wolf funding as a potential area to cut — is getting pushback from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. And the agency has now resorted to omitting a crucial portion of the law that mandated the wolves' reintroduction as it seeks to persuade lawmakers to fund Colorado's reintroduction program. Lawmakers have noticed that omission.   The issue is whether to fund the wolf reintroduction program in the 2025-26 budget year or save the $2.1 million in general fund dollars appropriated annually for the program. READ T...
Read More
Overwhelming ‘wolves are not welcome’ message the result of Garfield Co. ‘come to Jesus’ meeting
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Overwhelming ‘wolves are not welcome’ message the result of Garfield Co. ‘come to Jesus’ meeting

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer. Rocky Mountain Voice More than 300 residents from Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin Counties flocked recently to the New Hope Church in New Castle at the invitation of the Garfield County officials. The purpose of the meeting was to allow them to hear more about the imminent release of up to 15 wolves that are being captured from British Columbia, Canada, and transplanted into their ranching and agricultural community in January 2025. Elected officials in attendance included Garfield County Commissioners Mike Samson, John Martin, Tom Jankowski, former Wildlife Commissioner Russell George, current state Sen. and newly-elected Commissioner Perry Will, newly-elected state Sen. Marc Catlin, and newly-elected U.S. Congressman Jeff Hurd, among others. ...
Read More
Copper Creek wolf pack to return to wild as Colorado set to release 15 wolves
No Comments
kdvr.com, State

Copper Creek wolf pack to return to wild as Colorado set to release 15 wolves

By Maddie Rhodes | Fox 31 News Colorado Parks and Wildlife planned to release 15 wolves in Colorado by January, and now a few more wolves will join the release. The wolves from Canada will be released in Colorado in January. Originally, this amounted to 15 wolves. However, CPW confirmed with FOX31 that five wolves (a female and four pups) from the Copper Creek wolf pack will also be part of the release. The Copper Creek wolf pack, originally introduced into the state in December 2023, was captured over the summer with plans to relocate after livestock depredations, although critics say it goes against parts of the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 31 NEWS
Read More
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis criticized for blaming wolf reintroduction program costs on ranchers
No Comments
coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis criticized for blaming wolf reintroduction program costs on ranchers

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Gov. Jared Polis is facing backlash for comments he made during the winter conference of Colorado counties, when he blamed ranchers for the cost of the wolf reintroduction program this year. The topic of wolves at the Colorado Counties, Inc. conference arose in response to Polis' comments about an ever-tightening state budget. The association represents 63 of the state's 64 counties. State economists have estimated that the 2025-26 state budget will be short about $1 billion due to lowering inflation and the end of billions in one-time federal money tied to the pandemic. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
Read More