ROUTT COUNTY, Colo. — This is one predator that starts with “W” that most, if not all, Coloradans can get behind. Unlike the polarizing wolf reintroduction, Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s plan to reintroduce wolverines has received a thumbs-up by state Republicans and Democrats, ranchers and wildlife advocates, and even owners of ski areas, where the solitary, alpine-loving animal will mostly wander.
“Remember that wolverine and wolves are not the same thing even though the words sound very similar,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife commissioner Jay Tutchton said during the state wildlife agency’s unveiling of its reintroduction plan at its January commission meeting.
The reintroduction plan was set in motion in 2024 when the state legislature overwhelmingly passed SB24-171, a bipartisan bill that authorized restoring a population of the nomadic native extirpated a century ago.