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Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis stands by with other agency staff while wolves are released in December 2023. Colorado Parks and Wildlife\/Courtesy Photo<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tColorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis stands by with other agency staff while wolves are released in December 2023.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife\/Courtesy Photo<\/p>\n
Despite percolating challenges to Colorado\u2019s wolf restoration<\/a>, Colorado Parks and Wildlife is forging ahead with plans for a third release of the animals this winter.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The state wildlife agency is nearly two years into the voter-mandated wolf reintroduction program, releasing 25 animals since December 2023. Parks and Wildlife\u2019s wolf management plan<\/a> recommends that the agency release 30 to 50 wolves in the program\u2019s first three to five years. In sticking to this plan, the agency has been seeking a source for up to 15 more wolves to release this winter.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, this third release has been met with roadblocks, including continued requests from producers and lawmakers to pause the program, as well as the Trump administration introducing new limits on where the wolves can come from<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In October, the newly-appointed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik told Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis in a letter that Colorado could only source wolves from northern Rockies states where gray wolves are not listed as endangered<\/a>. This includes Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and portions of Oregon, Washington, and Utah.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nesvik argued that sourcing wolves from outside these areas violates the 10(j) agreement Parks and Wildlife<\/a> has with the federal agency to manage an experimental population of the animals in Colorado.\u00a0<\/p>\n Environmental advocates, including Earthjustice and Defenders of Wildlife<\/a>, have pushed back on this claim, arguing that while the agreement names these states as the \u201cpreferred\u201d source of wolves, it does not prevent the state from using other sources.\u00a0<\/p>\n Before the letter, Parks and Wildlife had not only worked with Fish and Wildlife on its January release of 15 wolves from British Columbia, but the state agency had entered into an agreement with British Columbia\u2019s Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship to obtain the next 10 to 15 animals this winter. Luke Perkins, a spokesperson for Parks and Wildlife, said the state wildlife agency had also worked with Fish and Wildlife on the latest agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n At this week\u2019s Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting, Davis said that while the Parks and Wildlife has a \u201ca different interpretation than Director Nesvik and the Trump administration\u201d on what the agreement says about wolf sources, the agency is working to \u201csource consistent with Director Nesvik\u2019s letter.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen there\u2019s changes in federal administrations, we can see different interpretations,\u201d Davis said. \u201cWe are working very diligently to be consistent with the letter that I received from Director Nesvik at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and we\u2019ll continue to work to implement our Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, which means another round of up to 15 animals for this next season.\u201d<\/p>\n Perkins said the state is \u201cevaluating all options to support this year\u2019s gray wolf releases\u201d and \u201chas continued conversations with several potential sources in order to maximize Colorado\u2019s options.\u201d<\/p>\n This includes the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, which will discuss Colorado\u2019s request for wolves at a meeting on Saturday, Nov. 15<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Petition for pause on wolves hits roadblock<\/p>\n While the agency works against the federal headwinds, it is also dealing with pushback from Colorado ranchers and communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n Parks and Wildlife\u2019s Nov. 13 commissioner meeting opened with a robust discussion around citizen petitions when Commissioner Tai Jacober, who is also a Carbondale producer, requested that the board hear a petition this week to pause this winter\u2019s anticipated wolf release.\u00a0<\/p>\n The discussion flared to include questions around two citizen petitions involving the agency\u2019s furbearer regulations \u2014 one requesting more data on bobcats, beavers, and foxes<\/a> and a second requesting a ban on commercial fur sales<\/a> \u2014 and ended with frustration from Parks and Wildlife staff over increasing workloads and stress.\u00a0<\/p>\n Typically, it takes months for petitions to be heard by the commission. For example, one of the furbearer petitions was submitted in November 2024 and will not be heard until March, when Parks and Wildlife takes up other regulatory changes surrounding furbearers. After a submission, Parks and Wildlife staff prepare a recommendation for the commission, which the board can approve or deny.<\/p>\n The wolf petition \u2014 submitted by a group of 29 agricultural groups, hunting organizations, and county commissioners to Parks and Wildlife in September<\/a> \u2014 requested that the agency hold off on any wolf releases until November 2026. The petitioners argue that the one-year pause would allow time for the agency to address the wolf program\u2019s current shortfalls \u2014 which the groups claim include resource, communication, and funding concerns \u2014 as well as better reduce conflict between wolves and livestock.\u00a0<\/p>\n This petition mirrored one submitted<\/a> to the Parks and Wildlife Commission in September 2024 that the board denied in January<\/a>, just days before it released its first wolves from British Columbia<\/a>. A dozen groups signed onto both petitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n The latest petition asked the agency to decide by its October or November meetings before the next release. The commission\u2019s next meeting will be held in January.<\/p>\n