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Colorado's GOP members of Congress call for end to wolf reintroduction, removal from endangered species list

Efforts underway to stop Colorado wolf reintroduction with vote
Efforts underway to stop Colorado wolf reintroduction with vote 03:49

All four Republican members of Colorado's Congressional Delegation are calling for an end to wolf reintroduction in the state and delisting the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act.

In a joint statement, Reps. Lauren Boebert, Jeff Crank, Gabe Evans, and Jeff Hurd said they're "demanding answers" from the U.S. Department of the Interior on the controversial program.

The program was approved by a majority of Colorado voters in 2020, but critics say supporters of reintroduction largely live in cities and suburbs, away from rural areas of the state where the wolves would largely reside. Ranchers have continuously raised concerns about wolves preying on livestock while wildlife biologists and environmental activists say wolves are vital to keeping ecological balance and preventing certain species from becoming overpopulated.

"After years of slighting or outright ignoring Colorado farmers and ranchers with politically appointed anti-agricultural activists and 'meat-free days,' bureaucrats in Colorado have rushed through the importation of Canadian gray wolves and have set them loose in our state despite numerous protests and questions about the legality of this dysfunctional and chaotic approach," the statement read, in part.

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Top left: Rep. Jeff Hurd, top right: Rep. Lauren Boebert, bottom left: Rep. Gabe Evans, Rep. Jeff Crank. U.S. House Creative Services

The letter says wolf numbers are "surging across the country." That claim, and its implications, have been debated by experts.

In 1973, the federal government listed gray wolves as endangered in the lower 48 states.  Fewer than 1,000 wolves roamed in the U.S. at that time, according to the International Wolf Center. As of 2023, there were around 2,800 gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains, according to various statewide counts in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming counted by the Wolf Conservation Center.

In addition to calling for the removal of gray wolves from the Endangered Species List, which typically requires an act by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Colorado's Republican members of Congress are calling on the incoming Trump administration to stop further reintroduction of "these foreign predators into the United States."

A white phase of a timber wolf at the wildlife park at
A white phase of a timber wolf at the wildlife park at Grouse Mountain in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images

The first 10 wolves brought to Colorado under the reintroduction plan came from Oregon. Last week, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers began capturing wolves in Canada to bring them back to Colorado.

Ranchers in western Colorado have been raising alarms about suspected wolf killings of livestock. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has recorded 30 confirmed wolf predation incidents since December 2021.

The first 10 wolves brought here under the reintroduction plan were released into Grand and Summit Counties. CPW believes at least two wolves from Wyoming migrate in and out of Northern Colorado at varying times.

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Colorado Parks and Wildlife released five gray wolves onto public land in Grand County, Colorado on Monday, December 18, 2023. Pictured is Wolf 2302-OR. Colorado Parks and Wildlife

The joint letter from Colorado's GOP members also raised financial concerns about the cost to ranchers and farmers, as well as taxpayers.

"Colorado's agricultural producers have lost $580,000 in just one year from wolves already introduced," the letter read. "We should be working with our farmers and ranchers who tirelessly labor to feed us, instead of hastily rushing foreign predators into our state and bloating even further a terribly mismanaged wolf program."

The U.S. Department of the Interior did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter and the Congressmembers' demands. After this story was published, the Bureau of Land Management told CBS News Colorado "The BLM does not respond to Congressional letters through the media."

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