{"id":15437,"date":"2025-12-02T23:07:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T06:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wolf-on-livestock-attack-prevention-training-to-be-held-in-lewis-arriola\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:48:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:48:06","slug":"wolf-on-livestock-attack-prevention-training-to-be-held-in-lewis-arriola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wolf-on-livestock-attack-prevention-training-to-be-held-in-lewis-arriola\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolf-on-livestock attack prevention training to be held in Lewis-Arriola"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A Mexican gray wolf was monitored in the wild for a population survey in eastern Arizona, taken Jan. 24. (Arizona Game and Fish Department)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

A training led by the Colorado Department of Agriculture is scheduled Dec. 8 in Lewis-Arriola to provide education and resources for preventing wolf attacks on livestock.<\/p>\n

The event, from 5-7 p.m. at the Lewis-Arriola Community Center, comes amid ongoing debate over wolf reintroduction, particularly in rural Western Slope communities such as Montezuma County.<\/p>\n

The event will include an update on Colorado\u2019s wolf reintroduction program and offer resources to prevent or reduce wolf-livestock conflicts, according to a flyer.<\/p>\n

After the narrow approval of Proposition 114<\/a> in November 2020, Colorado Parks and Wildlife began reintroducing gray wolves in December 2023, starting with 10 wolves from Oregon.<\/p>\n

Since then, the state has encountered challenges<\/a>. Ten of 25 wolves released in Colorado have died, killed by vehicles, predators or shootings, both legal and illegal.<\/p>\n

Wolf depredation of livestock remains a key concern for opponents of the program.<\/p>\n

The agency says the issue is \u201caddressed on a case-by-case basis using a combination of appropriate management tools, including education, nonlethal conflict minimization techniques, damage payments and lethal take of wolves if determined necessary by (CPW).\u201d<\/p>\n

The Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution<\/a> in March 2021 titled \u201cMaking Montezuma County A Sanctuary From Wolf Reintroduction.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the topic came up during a BOCC meeting in August, commissioners voiced their disapproval of the reintroduction program.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was CPW, I\u2019d find better things to do,\u201d said Commissioner Kent Lindsay. \u201cLet\u2019s put it that way. That\u2019s my opinion, sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

During an interview<\/a> in early November, Montezuma County Young Republicans leader Delta Suckla referred to the measure as an example of Colorado\u2019s rural-urban divide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not dropping wolves in downtown Denver. They\u2019re dropping them here on the Western Slope \u2013 right in some of our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t live this day-to-day life of actually seeing how this is affecting farmers and ranchers,\u201d she said, describing urban and often Front Range Coloradans who voted to pass the ballot measure.<\/p>\n

A flyer for the Dec. 8 event lists the following topics to be addressed:<\/p>\n

Wolf Update: new wolves and past experiences from 2025.Investigation and necropsy.Site assessments.Potential funding sources compensation program.Carcass management.Range riding: lessons from the 2025 season and looking forward.Non-lethal tools: what\u2019s available in Montezuma County\u2019Livestock protection dogs: new contacts and options for 2026.Drone use and ongoing research.<\/div>\n