Wolves could be in Colorado on Monday if lawsuit doesn't throw plan off track
Colorado Parks and Wildlife has been very coy about when it was planning to send officers to Oregon to capture and return to Colorado with a maximum of 10 wolves (but in increments of five, we'll get into that later) but thanks to a federal lawsuit filed by both the Colorado Cattlemen's Association and the Gunnison County Stockgrowers' Association, we now know officers plan to leave Sunday, and could be back in Colorado as soon as Monday, if the capturing process goes smoothly.
Granted, those two associations are suing to stop wolves from being introduced any time soon. Andy Spann, president of the Gunnison County Stockgrowers Association said this is not an attempt to stop wolves from being reintroduced to Colorado, he knows that's what voters chose. He just believes we're not ready to do it.
"I think we have a good reason to have these NEPA analyses done," Spann said, referencing the basis of the suit's argument. "We want reintroduction to be done right and correctly for the impact that the wolves are going to have."
Both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife are named as defendants in the case.
Federal Judge Regina Rodriguez heard arguments from both sides Thursday, and while she was expected to make a ruling in the case, decided to push her decision one day out, while trying to stick to a solid timeline as to not mess up the plans set in place by CPW to capture the wolves should the case be dismissed.
"This is a last-ditch attempt at the 11th hour to block the voter endorsed, scientifically biased reintroduction of wolves to the state of Colorado," said Michael Saul, regional director of Defenders of Wildlife outside the courthouse. "I'm here to say that it is our steadfast belief that prop 114 is the law, it is what the people of Colorado want, it is what the governor and state agencies and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and Coloradans of all walks of life have worked together for years to make possible."
Speaking of what's possible, Rodriguez asked CPW what options it had in the event she needed more time, or the delay was put in place.
CPW said it would greatly prefer not to have to adjust their planned schedule that has been in the works for months at this point, but that they have collars on the wolves that will allow them to go out and re-track down the wolves in the event they needed to be recollected. Rodriguez said she hopes to have a decision Friday and therefore circumvent any of those adjustments.
As for the capture operations, CPW said it plans to send officers out to Oregon on Sunday, with the possibility of wolves in Colorado by Monday if they are caught quickly and sent back by plane. Catching the wolves will be weather dependent and animal dependent, (they have to be the right wolves, healthy, no history of predication of livestock, ect.). and should CPW have to drive back, that will add time. Also, they can only transport five at a time max, so to get all 10, they will have to make at least two trips.
How long the possible delay would be in the event Rodriguez rules in the favor of the rancher's associations is still to be determined. Should the lawsuit fail, another lawsuit was just field under very similar grounds by the Colorado Conservation Alliance Thursday afternoon, stating "Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief preventing Defendants from moving forward with the introduction of the gray wolf in Colorado pending Defendants' full compliance with NEPA and the APA."
