Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is making major progress in its gray wolf reintroduction efforts, highlighted by a recent agreement with the British Columbia Ministry of Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship. This agreement secures up to 15 wolves for reintroduction on Colorado’s Western Slope this winter. This supplements the 10 wolves that were reintroduced into Colorado’s west slope from Oregon last year. The wolf plan describes that the reintroduction should consist of 10-15 animals per year for 3-5 years.
As Colorado’s first endangered species reintroduction directed by a majority public vote, CPW worked closely with a wide range of stakeholders including sportspersons, scientists, ranchers, outfitters, county commissioners, tribes, and conservationists and held 22 public meetings across the state, in order to create a comprehensive plan for wolf reintroduction. This became the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan. Approved unanimously by the CPW Commission in May 2023, this plan has a primary objective of establishing a sustainable wolf population in the state, while also addressing concerns and impacts due to wolf-livestock conflict.
Partnering with Livestock Producers
A key component of CPW’s strategy has been collaboration with the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) and livestock producers. Through a Memorandum of Understanding, CPW and CDA have dedicated resources to support ranchers with non-lethal wolf deterrents, specifically range riders and carcass disposal.
Separately, CPW has a strong nonlethal program to help deploy other tools to minimize and mitigate conflict. The Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Commission has passed regulations that align with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service guidelines and provide landowners with a wide variety of options and resources to minimize conflict and potential wolf depredation. This includes commonly accepted non-lethal hazing techniques such as fladry (fencing), range riders, guard animals and scare devices.
After depredations in Middle Park, CPW and CDA rapidly deployed resources to the region. In April 2024, CDA provided $20,000 to the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association for non-lethal measures, such as hiring range riders and herd protection patrols.
In June 2024, the Polis Administration provided additional funding, with CPW and CDA extending their agreement with Middle Park Stockgrowers, adding up to $28,000 from funds earmarked for further conflict mitigation efforts, including fladry and range rider patrols.
Additionally, CDA and CPW have developed a grant program, the Non-lethal Wolf Conflict Reduction Grant Program, to assist with implementing non-lethal wolf conflict reduction measures. Grants of up to $20,000 are available to entities and organizations that provide support to multiple producers. CDA administers this program and the grants will fund training, education, or other preventative support that will help producers use non-lethal predator deterrents and prepare for coexistence with wolves. CDA is also hiring two new staff members to provide direct assistance to producers.
CPW Director Jeff Davis emphasized the importance of these partnerships.
“This is a historic effort for our state and we will continue building on this work to fulfill the will of Colorado voters to reintroduce gray wolves into Colorado. We couldn’t do it without the support of partners like the Colorado Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as APHIS-Wildlife Services and many NGOs,” Davis said. “We are grateful for the grants we received last year – the $109,000 Wolf Compensation and Conflict Mitigation grant from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as well as the $15,000 grant from Rocky Mountain Wolf Project for materials. We also want to thank the Wolf Conflict Reduction Fund, Defenders of Wildlife, and Working Circle for providing cameras, range riders and labor assistance for fladry. All of these resources and tools are adding up and creating momentum toward improved outcomes in our conflict-minimization efforts.”
Looking to the future, CPW will be working with Western Landowners Alliance to develop a complementary funding source for producers through the National Resource Conservation Service that will be critical to the long-term success of conflict reduction in Colorado. There will be $2 million available for Colorado starting November 2024 for cost-sharing tools. CPW will apply through our local USDA-NRCS office.
“Collaboratively working with livestock producers will be key to our success going forward,” Davis said. “Minimizing and mitigating wolf-livestock depredation is a top priority, and we’re investing significant time and resources with our partners to support non-lethal deterrents and conflict reduction.”
The Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan created a generous depredation compensation plan, which provides 100 percent fair market value compensation for confirmed wolf-livestock depredations. The Wolf Depredation Compensation Fund provides dedicated funding for landowners and agriculture producers for the fair market value of an animal, up to $15,000, for losses. Additionally, the fund will cover up to $15,000 per animal for veterinary care for livestock injured by wolves. Earlier this year, Governor Polis signed legislation to provide $350,000 annually to the fund.
Recent Milestones
August 2024: CPW hired five Wildlife Damage Specialists to assess site vulnerabilities and engage in community dialogue.
More than $450,000 has been raised so far this calendar year through the “Born to Be Wild” license plate program to fund non-lethal management tools for ranchers.
CPW released its Colorado Gray Wolf Annual Report that documents the status of gray wolves, wolf management, wolf monitoring, research related to wolves, and education and outreach in Colorado during the biological year April 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024.
September 2024: This spring, after a pair of wolves established a den in Middle Park, the male adult wolf was involved in multiple depredations. Removing the male at that time, while he was the sole source of food and the female was denning, would likely have been fatal to the pups and counter to the restoration mandate. Working closely with internal and external wildlife biologists, CPW’s wildlife veterinarians, federal partners, and ranchers, CPW created a plan to deal with this unique situation that was in the best interest of the wolves and Grand County producers. On Thursday, August 22, CPW began the operation to capture and relocate wolves from the depredating Copper Creek wolf pack, with technical support from federal partners. On September 9, CPW announced its capture operations were complete.
Also in September, CPW secured another source population of gray wolves from British Columbia for the second year of reintroduction efforts. In an agreement announced September 13 between Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the B.C. Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship, the Canadian province will be a source for up to 15 wolves for the Colorado gray wolf reintroduction effort for this upcoming winter. These wolves will be captured and translocated between December 2024 and March 2025.
Across the state, wolf conservationists, nonprofits and academic institutions are collaborating with CPW to ensure our wildlife communities and human communities can thrive in Colorado’s bountiful ecosystem. As CPW prepares for the upcoming release season, the agency continues to improve its commitment to conflict reduction, community education, and supporting the coexistence of wolves and livestock producers across the state.
Written by Travis Duncan. Travis is a public information officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife in Denver. He has lived in Colorado for nearly 20 years and loves the outdoors.
