Colorado livestock industry petitions for pause on upcoming wolf release

This week marks one year since the reintroduction of wolves in Colorado. Now, Colorado Parks and Wildlife is preparing for a second capture and release, but a group from the livestock industry has called for a pause on those reintroduction efforts.

In its petition, the livestock industry group asked for several conditions before more wolves are re-introduced, including:

• The development of a state range rider program
• The development of a response team to handle conflicts
• Non-lethal conflict techniques
• A site assessment program
• A definition of chronic depredation

The CPW rejected the petition Saturday, stating the conditions have been addressed. They stated there would be further discussion in a meeting on Jan. 8.

The Center for Biological Diversity supported the decision, stating, "This anti-wolf petition isn't about making the program successful, it's aimed at throwing a wrench in the democratically driven reintroduction."

In response, the Stock Grower's Association expressed their concerns. "What we are afraid of is wolves will be on the ground before range riders are in place, a rapid response team is ready to deploy, and carcass management tools are in place."

The reintroduction efforts have been controversial since the beginning.

The wolf reintroduction plan was passed by voters last year. Of the ten wolved introduced last year, three have died. Ranchers asked for additional funding for range riders earlier this year to patrol areas with livestock and scare the wolves away.

In September, the CPW Wolf Conservation Program announced plans to reintroduce as many as 15 gray wolves on Colorado's Western Slope. CPW Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell said they plan to apply lessons learned from last year's reintroduction and will reintroduce the new wolves to a different area.