A former congressman and 2026 Republican gubernatorial candidate is continuing to claim Colorado Parks and Wildlife broke federal laws when the agency transported wolves from Canada into the United States last winter, and that officials who participated in the effort could face “enforcement action” if they don’t provide permits proving the federal government authorized the imports.
Greg Lopez, who represented Colorado’s 4th Congressional District for six months in 2024, told Colorado Parks and Wildlife commissioners Friday that actions taken by CPW Director Jeff Davis, CPW staff and volunteer pilots who flew 15 wolves from British Columbia to Colorado in January violated the Endangered Species Act. Lopez says there is no record in the Federal Register showing that the Secretary of the Interior granted CPW the ability to complete the action.
Therefore, he said, the 15 wolves imported from British Columbia are in Colorado illegally. All equipment used in the translocation is also subject to seizure. And if there were violations of section 11 of the Endangered Species Act, Lopez said, all parties involved in the effort could face penalties that could include significant fines and jail time.
A wolf captured on photographer Pete McBride’s game camera, June 5, 2025, in Pitkin County. McBride’s family owns the Lost Marbles Ranch, where the adult female from a pack of wolves that was relocated from Grand County to the area in February had a second litter of puppies. (Courtesy Pete McBride)
Davis told the commissioners CPW interacted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prior to going to B.C., that the wolves from there are not listed as endangered species in the United States and that all the agency needed to import them was a health inspection in B.C.
“We did and will continue to comply with state and federal law,” he added. “Our AGs are always no further away than a phone call and we probably overuse them to make sure that we’re very careful in what we’re doing to implement state law. I don’t know if that’s helpful, but there are a whole lot of really important connection points that need to be made, that quite frankly result in a whole lot of funding coming from the federal government. We would never want to put those things in jeopardy because we’re talking tens and tens of millions of dollars.”
Lopez’ comments were his latest attempt to prove CPW violated the Endangered Species Act by importing wolves from British Columbia.
The former lawmaker and gubernatorial hopeful first raised questions about wolves in June, when he started speaking to ranchers and outfitters about their concerns with wolf reintroduction. He later studied Colorado’s wolf management plan and decided he needed to help, he told The Aspen Times. On Sept. 9, with the backing of cattlemen, woolgrower associations and other Western Slope stakeholders, he sent a letter asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Regional Director Matt Hogan, in the Mountain-Prairie Region, to tell CPW to cease and desist future capture operations in British Columbia.
When Hogan didn’t respond, he sent a letter to Hogan and Brian Nesvik, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director, requesting a written response to his assertions within 21 days. He was “a thousand times sure” the agency had made the violations, he told The Coloradoan.
At the November commission meeting in Sterling, Lopez said he decided to tell the commissioners about the agency’s alleged violations after he requested “an important meeting” with Davis on Nov. 4 and Davis declined.
That was more than a month after Lopez had contacted Nesvik.
Nesvik had already sent a cease-and-desist order to Davis on Oct. 10. Since then, CPW has said the agency is “working very diligently to be consistent with the letter.”
A gray wolf pup born to the King Mountain Pack in Routt County was photographed on June 22, 2025, by a Colorado Parks and Wildlife trail camera near the pack’s den. (Colorado Parks and Wildlife photo)
Lopez at the meeting Friday said he made his concerns public because he needed the commissioners “to understand the gravity of violating federal law.”
He also told the commissioners he would “welcome the opportunity to be corrected on the issue should Director Davis be able to provide copies of all relevant, important permits issued by the United States, along with the export permits issued by British Columbia.”
But experts insist, like CPW does, that there are no Endangered Species Act permits required to obtain wolves from British Columbia.
And CPW is complying with Nesvik’s order to source wolves from other places — the agency is currently in talks with Washington state.
State Sen. Dylan Roberts, an Avon Democrat and fierce supporter of his ranching constituents in his district, says denying CPW the right to source wolves from British Columbia is a big mistake.
“Seeking this letter from the USFWS may have been well-intentioned, but it actually makes things worse for Colorado ranchers,” he told The Colorado Sun. “If we’re going to have more wolves translocated to Colorado, it’d be better if they came from British Columbia where they have little to no history with livestock, rather than from packs in Washington or Oregon that have killed livestock before.”
Lopez is running in the Republican gubernatorial primary against Barbara Kirkmeyer, Mark Baisley, Scott Bottoms and others. He previously served in Congress after winning a special election in June 2024 to serve out the remainder of U.S. Rep. Ken Buck’s term after Buck resigned.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser are vying for the Democratic nomination.
Rob Edward, president of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, said Lopez is pushing the narrative that CPW committed crimes “because he thinks he’s winning points with his chosen constituency.”
The Colorado Sun was unable to reach Lopez for further comment.
Type of Story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.