Here's why Colorado is finding it hard to find states willing to give it wolves

Miles Blumhardt, Fort Collins Coloradoan
Updated ·6 min read
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Given the national political divisiveness and wolves being near the apex when it comes to polarizing predators, it should come as little surprise why the latest concern regarding Colorado wolf reintroduction is finding animals to release.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has painstakingly plodded through a two-year process to create a wolf recovery and management plan and set itself up to meet what it believes is the intent of the narrowly approved ballot initiative to reintroduce wolves by the end of 2023.

Problem is the plan identified Idaho, Montana and Wyoming as the "desired states'' to secure wolves and those states aren't keen on giving wolves to Colorado. Oregon and Washington are possible alternative donor states.

Colorado is looking to get 10 to 15 wolves per year over the next three to five years from multiple states to reintroduce wolves on the Western Slope.

Here's more on why some are worried about where those wolves will come from.

Temperature among likely source states on giving Colorado wolves can be characterized as ...

  • Wyoming: Not only no, but hell no.

  • Idaho: Yeah right.

  • Montana: Really not interested.

  • Washington: Don't call us, we'll call you.

  • Oregon: We're open to discussions.

Reasons for those reactions are listed later in this story.

But first, despite the less-than-favorable initial state responses, Colorado Parks and Wildlife believes it will secure wolves to have paws on the ground by the end of this year.

In an email response to questions by the Coloradoan regarding sourcing concerns, Colorado Parks and Wildlife responded: "CPW does not anticipate the need to postpone reintroduction efforts. CPW will work to exhaust all options for potential sources and (we) do not anticipate needing to request wolves from states outside of the Northern Rockies.''

The wildlife agency told the Coloradoan the initial translocation of wolves is expected to take place in mid- to late December of this year and continue into January and February.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife placed GPS collars on two wolves in North Park on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife placed GPS collars on two wolves in North Park on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023.

What are reasons some states are balking at giving wolves to Colorado?

Politically, Colorado more closely aligns with Washington and Oregon and not so much with Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

Recently hired Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis, who came from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, sent letters May 15 to his counterparts at Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Wyoming was not included on that list because it had already said it wasn't interested in helping Colorado.

Here's more on each state's situation and perspective on giving wolves to Colorado:

Wyoming

  • The state has a reported 338 wolves.

  • Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon told 9News that "Wyoming is opposed to sending wolves to Colorado" in early May.

  • Gordon has said he is against Colorado's gray wolf reintroduction.

  • He cited other reasons behind Wyoming's opposition are the state's current wolf management plan is working and doesn't want to disrupt it and a concern wolves sourced from Wyoming and given to Colorado will return to Wyoming.

Idaho

  • The state has a reported 1,337 wolves.

  • Idaho's game and fish director Jim Fredericks wrote in a June 6 response letter to Davis his concerns, saying "we do not believe providing wolves for translocation is in the best interests of Idaho."

  • Fredericks cited current litigation over the listing status of wolves, negative impacts of wolves sent to Colorado spilling over to other states and the social framework of wolves.

Montana

  • The state has a reported 1,080 wolves.

  • Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park spokesperson Greg Lemon told the Coloradoan "there has not been a formal process (with Colorado) and we are not involved in any conversations regarding translocations of wolves to any other states." He didn't specify why.

Washington

  • The state has a reported 216 wolves.

  • The governors' offices of Colorado and Washington have talked, and Davis came from the Washington state wildlife agency, so this is looking like a possible match.

  • However, at its June 23 Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting, a member said: "This isn’t really anything we’re that enthusiastic about, but we do want to hear more.”

  • A major reason for hesitancy is Washington is in the midst of its periodic status review and listing decision of its wolves.

Oregon

  • The state has a reported 178 wolves.

  • Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Michelle Denney told the Coloradoan "we have had some initial discussions, but we are still in those discussions, and no commitment has been made.'' She did not elaborate on what those discussions entailed.

Wandering wolves: North Park wolfpack member confirmed to have wandered into Grand County

Expert, advocate say politics are the primary reason behind unwillingness to send wolves to Colorado

Ed Bangs, who oversaw the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's gray wolf recovery program in the Northern Rocky Mountains before retiring in 2011, said the issue is purely political.

"There's no reason why these states couldn't give wolves to Colorado; most want to get rid of them," he said. "But with this you see the politics playing out. This is classic wolf politics. Something that should be straightforward biologically isn't because humans complicate it."

That's how Gary Skiba sees it.

Skiba is a wolf advocate who sat on the state-selected wolf recovery Stakeholders Group, is the current wildlife manager for the San Juan Citizens Alliance and is a former longtime Colorado Department of Wildlife (now Colorado Parks and Wildlife) employee.

He said he's personally had discussions with state wildlife agency staff who told him they feel confident they will find wolf sources. Still, he admitted wolf advocates are concerned.

"It's hard to figure out what other reason these states (Wyoming, Montana and Idaho) would have for not giving wolves to Colorado," Skiba said. "Politics is really the only reason, because they're killing wolves."

Johnny Schmidt, a Jackson County Colorado rancher who had a confirmed calf kill by the North Park wolves, said he believes there is another reason for the reticence and it stems from wolf management decisions.

"Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, they all have allowed lethal take as a management tool to protect ranchers," he said. "Colorado decided we are not going to follow suit."

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to get a 10(j) rule, which would allow lethal take of reintroduced wolves in certain situations. The state believes the rule will be secured by the time wolves are reintroduced.

Bangs said there remains ample time for Colorado to secure wolves but cautioned having a Plan B or C would be a good idea.

"What's happening is not surprising, which is why you need a backup plan because something always falls apart with wolves,'' he said.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Why Colorado is finding it hard to find wolves for reintroduction