RBC | Despite a last-minute change by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) last Wednesday that removed Rio Blanco County from consideration as a site for wolf release in the next round of the reintroduction plan, county residents flooded the Fairfield Center Monday night for a public meeting with CPW staff.
Following a Nov. 8 CPW meeting in which two state wildlife areas in Rio Blanco County — Oak Ridge and Jensen — were listed as potential locations for the next batch of captured wolves to be released into Colorado, RBC Commissioners and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts, among others, pushed back with letters of opposition and planned a meeting for residents to hear from CPW directly. Late on Wednesday, Nov. 10, CPW issued an update, removing Rio Blanco County from consideration. “Rio Blanco County was removed as a potential location as the next level of analysis was conducted due to the limited number of state-owned sites that adhered to the criteria in the plan and their proximity to livestock, elevating the risk of conflict, as well as the potential impact to elk and deer herds recovering from the severe winter of 2022-23. Another consideration was adjacency to existing wolves on the landscape,” the press release stated. State-managed locations in Eagle, Garfield and Pitkin counties remain under consideration.
CPW Northwest Regional Manager Travis Black addressed a crowd of several hundred residents Monday to share the same presentation given at the Nov. 8 meeting and provide information. Opening the meeting, RBC Commissioner Doug Overton told the audience the purpose of the meeting was not to rehash the 2020 ballot initiative that narrowly approved wolf reintroduction, nor to “tar and feather” CPW staff.
Proposition 114 narrowly passed in 2020 51% to 49%. Rio Blanco County voted 88% against Proposition 114.
Black explained that the CPW came under legal obligation by state law to begin reintroducing wolves into the state by December 2023 and walked the audience through the steps taken to accomplish that task. The first batch of wolves were captured in Oregon, checked by veterinarians, and released mostly in Grand and Summit counties (exact locations are not released for the safety of the wolves and CPW staff).
The agency plans to release 30-50 wolves over three to five years to establish a self-sustaining population.
Black spent a significant amount of time reviewing the maps, which are released monthly to the public, indicating the drainages where the wolves released in 2023 have traveled. Black explained that the GPS collars do not provide real-time location information, and the maps are based on watershed drainages, not pinpointed locations. One of the wolves released in 2023 was killed by a mountain lion. As the released wolves have explored new territory, they’ve gone as far as Craig, north of Rifle, and one ventured south of I-70 near Leadville, but they seem to return to the area near the original release site. As they establish packs it’s expected they will set up a “home range” and won’t move as much or as far, which is expected to make management easier.
The 2024-25 release season will involve up to 15 wolves from British Columbia, with a likely release planned in January 2025. The British Columbia wolves have been collected from an area that does not have livestock.
Black, Jonathan Lambert, CPW Area Wildlife Manager, and a game damage specialist based in the Craig office, explained the process the agency uses to identify locations for wolf release. The law only allows wolves to be released on state-managed or private land, not federal land. To date, no private landowners have offered their property.
CPW takes into consideration biological, social, and potential conflicts, including density of development, proximity to towns, and high livestock areas. The number of domestic sheep and cattle in Rio Blanco County was one of the reasons RBC was ruled out as a release site for 2024-25. Weather conditions, roads, access, and safety of the animals and CPW staff are also considered.
“There’s not a best place, no matter where we look,” Lambert said.
Local producer Lenny Klinglesmith, who served on the Stakeholder Advisory Group for CPW, and outfitter Marie Haskett, who serves on the CPW Commission, urged residents to attend CPW Commission meetings, get a site assessment for non-lethal management methods, and plan ahead.
“They’re doing what’s mandated by law,” Hasket said of CPW staff.
“The next CPW Commission meeting is Jan. 8-9,” Klinglesmith said. “Short, respectful comments from the Western Slope mean a lot.” Incoming RBC Commissioner Callie Scritchfield said she would like to see a “van-load” of residents attend the CPW Commission meetings.
In response to audience questions, CPW representatives touched on non-lethal and lethal management, the 10J rule, delisting of wolves as an endangered species, collaring issues, and the National Environmental Policy Act process to place wolves on Federal property.
Colorado Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) President Tom Harrington said 26 different agencies around the state, including CCA, have created a petition “to try and put a pause on this…to put pressure on them to slow it down.”
Local producer Tony Theos said, “We dodged a bullet this year and I really appreciate that decision and who was involved in that decision and getting it, but are we susceptible to that in the future?”
Black responded, “We’re not coming to Rio Blanco County if I can help it, but wolves go where they’re going to go, and we really can’t control that movement. The plan calls for 10 to 15 wolves per year for a three-year time frame. This will be the second year in the Northwest region. My preference would be we go to that Southern release zone in the future and not put any more in the Northwest region. I have some influence in that decision, but I don’t get to make that decision.”
