26 Colorado agricultural groups file petition to halt wolf reintroduction efforts

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – More than 26 different agricultural organizations in Colorado are filing a formal petition with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to halt all future wolf reintroductions in the state.

According to our Denver news partners, the petition would pause the addition of any more wolves until Colorado's wolf management program can adequately address the conflicts between wolves and livestock producers.

The groups had many requests in the petition, including that CPW require lethal management for wolves that repeatedly kill livestock and provide ranchers with more funding for non-lethal management methods.

It also asks CPW to further define what constitutes "chronic depredation," or the number of livestock kills that could allow rangers and ranchers to escalate an intervention and requests "vulnerability studies" be done in the areas where wolves are set to be reintroduced.

The petition comes just weeks after the agency announced British Columbia would supply the state with its next 15 wolves, and requests that the agency hold off on the new release until specific conflict mitigation strategies are funded, developed and implemented. 

Gray wolves were reintroduced in Colorado in December of last year. Since then, there have been 24 confirmed livestock depredations, in addition to ranchers reporting missing livestock in the Grand, Jackson and Routt counties.

In September, a wolf pair and their four pups – called the Cooper Creek pack – were captured from Grand County and relocated after complaints that they were responsible for killing several sheep and cows. CPW is now working to capture a wolf spotted in the area that they believe to be a fifth pup from the pack.