{"id":36520,"date":"2023-01-02T09:56:46","date_gmt":"2023-01-02T16:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/how-colorado-plans-to-reintroduce-wolves-on-western-slope-by-2023-deadline\/"},"modified":"2023-01-02T16:56:46","modified_gmt":"2023-01-02T16:56:46","slug":"how-colorado-plans-to-reintroduce-wolves-on-western-slope-by-2023-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/how-colorado-plans-to-reintroduce-wolves-on-western-slope-by-2023-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"How Colorado plans to reintroduce wolves on Western Slope by 2023 deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A draft plan released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife last month calls for the reintroduction of 10 to 15 wolves per year over the next three to five years, with an initial target of a stable population of at least 50 animals within the state. (Courtesy of Colorado Parks & Wildlife)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Colorado could be less than a year away from the state\u2019s first relocation of gray wolves to parts of the Western Slope, as required by a ballot initiative passed by voters in 2020.<\/p>\n

A draft plan<\/a> released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife last month calls for the reintroduction of 10 to 15 wolves per year over the next three to five years, with an initial target of a stable population of at least 50 animals within the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis draft plan represents the division\u2019s very best effort to develop a blueprint and common-sense approach to implement Proposition 114,\u201d said Carrie Besnette Hauser, chair of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, at the panel\u2019s December meeting. \u201cThe goal was to develop a plan that the majority of the public will support and one that represents reasonable compromise, viability, and has room to evolve over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voters narrowly approved Proposition 114, a citizen-initiated measure backed by wildlife conservation groups, by a 51% to 49% margin in November 2020. It directed CPW to develop a plan and take steps to reintroduce gray wolves west of the Continental Divide by the end of 2023.<\/p>\n

Under the state\u2019s 293-page draft plan, CPW staff will work with counterpart agencies in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming to capture wolves from existing wild populations in those states, and release them on state-owned and private lands at least 60 miles from neighboring state or tribal borders.<\/p>\n

\"A
A map from Colorado Parks and Wildlife showing two zones where gray wolves could be released beginning in the winter of 2023-24. (CPW)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Based on criteria of habitat suitability and conflict risk, the plan identifies a northern zone centered on Glenwood Canyon and a southern zone centered on Gunnison County as the best locations for the wintertime releases of captured wolves. The first releases would occur in the northern zone in the winter of 2023-24, and the wolves will be tracked via GPS collars to help wildlife managers gather data on survival and dispersal.<\/p>\n

Although the new law includes a provision requiring the state to compensate agricultural producers for any livestock losses caused by wolves, ranchers on the Western Slope<\/a> and industry groups like the Colorado Cattlemen\u2019s Association<\/a> have remained wary of the proposal.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s draft plan includes detailed procedures for compensating ranchers for livestock losses of up to $8,000 per animal. Commission Vice Chair Dallas May, a rancher from Lamar, called the plan \u201ca great start\u201d but told state staff that the $8,000 maximum is \u201cinsufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMany horses and livestock seedstock are much more valuable than that,\u201d May said. \u201cA well-trained young ranch horse \u2013 the value of those start at $15,000. Most people have pastures of $15,000 horses that are necessary to operate their business.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018A momentous conservation achievement\u2019<\/div>\n

Gray wolves are native to Colorado and other Rocky Mountain states but were hunted to near-extinction by the mid-20th century. With the support of conservation groups, reintroduction efforts like one in Yellowstone National Park<\/a> beginning in 1995 have allowed populations to recover in the northern Rockies. Studies have linked wolf reintroduction to a variety of positive effects on impacted ecosystems, like healthier elk herds<\/a> and the recovery of riparian habitats<\/a> previously damaged by overgrazing.<\/p>\n

Sightings of wolves that have migrated from other states have periodically been reported in Colorado, and the state\u2019s first breeding pair of wolves in 70 years was confirmed<\/a> in Jackson County in 2021.<\/p>\n

Dillon Hanson-Ahumada, a Southern Rockies field representative for the Endangered Species Coalition, said in a statement that CPW\u2019s plan \u201cmarks one more step toward a momentous conservation achievement for the wilds and the people of Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gray wolf is an important native species to our state, and a vital part of the wildlife heritage we all share as Coloradans,\u201d Hanson-Ahumada said. \u201cWe will work to ensure that the final plan commits Colorado to a full recovery of wolves now and for future generations of Coloradans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some environmentalists, however, object to the plan\u2019s approach toward livestock-wolf conflicts. Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the draft plan \u201cpaves the way for far too many wolves to be shot.\u201d Under the plan, many state protections for wolves would expire once the population reaches 200 animals, potentially leading to legal wolf hunting,<\/a> as states like Montana and Wyoming have allowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis disappointing proposal doesn\u2019t require ranchers to take responsibility for preventing conflicts and will lead to government agents regularly shooting Colorado wolves from helicopters,\u201d Robinson said in a statement. \u201cThe commissioners should reject this draft and rewrite the plan based on science.\u201d<\/p>\n

CPW staff will hold five public hearings throughout the state in January and February to receive public comment on the draft plan, with a final set of revisions and the plan\u2019s potential approval scheduled for April and May. Members of the public can also submit comment<\/a> through an online form until Feb. 22.<\/p>\n

To read more stories from Colorado Newsline, visit www.coloradonewsline.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colorado Parks and Wildlife releases draft plan to comply with 2020\u2019s Proposition 114<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1031,529],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-36520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado-parks-and-wildlife","tag-conservation"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36520"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=36520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}