By Staci-lee Sherwood
Before the wolves have even gotten to Colorado, the hunters and ranchers are already planning the hunting season, and the excuses to justify it.
Is Colorado just bringing back wolves to be hunted? What is the reasoning to even consider a hunt before they even arrive? Governor Jared Polis likes to portray himself as pro wildlife but this might be more about appeasing his husband, an animal lover, than supporting real conservation policies.
Much of Colorado wild land is fast being leased to mining and drilling exploration. This would seem to fly in the face of preserving wild animals that would need that same land and water to survive. Colorado still has plenty of wilderness where wolves can thrive in their ancestral native habitat. This would not impede agriculture or recreation since Colorado is big state. The draft plan the state came up with is a start but falls short if recovery is the goal.
In November 2020 voters approved Proposition 114 which was a ballot initiative that requires the state agency, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), to begin reintroducing wolves no later than December 2023. The initial reintroductions will be west of the Continental Divide with a 60-mile buffer from other states and tribal lands as a requirement.
Wolves currently have federal protection but under the draft plan, Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, the state would remove their protection after only two years of having 150 animals. As someone who has worked with wildlife and in particular endangered species I know how the government prefers to lowball the threshold needed to meet before a species is declared ‘recovered’. The opposite needs to happen where the number of animals must be higher and length of time longer otherwise this will not have the intended results, if recovery is what the state wants.
A healthy self-sustaining population would need upwards of 750 wolves. The state plan for capping population at 150 falls short of what science indicates is needed. The plan calls for 30 – 50 wolves to be released slowly over five years. That is an illogical, unsustainable plan unless you want this to fail after making a lukewarm attempt at conservation just to appease voters.
The draft plan comes with a mixed bag of good and bad.
The good and bad
If this were back in the 1990s when the first wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park, this draft plan wouldn’t be as bad for wolves as it is today. No sooner did wolves lose their Endangered Species protection than hunts with unlimited killing started. In just the past couple of years the national wolf population has plummeted mostly due to hunting in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Therefore any plan in any state must take into consideration the national population and threats when drawing conclusions about sustainability. Animals do not know or respect human boundaries.
The Colorado Parks & Wildlife Draft Plan:
- Caps the population at a low 150 wolves
- Preferred release sites are on private and state land with ‘willing’ owners, not federal land where they should be released
- CPW makes a claim they lack the funds and time to go through a NEPA process but wolf reintroduction has already been done successfully elsewhere, so the process should only take a few months. They have had 2 years to get this done
- At Phase 2 removes Endangered Species status for a weaker Threatened Status after 2 years
- At Phase 3 allows for classifying wolves as nongame and possibly allows hunting
- Allows for broader use of lethal management
- Allows for wolves to be killed on protected public lands
Click here to read the full state CPW draft plan.
A better option for real sustainable recovery is offered by WildEarth Guardians and other environmental groups.
The Colorado Wolf Restoration Plan :
- Identifies 12 wilderness areas that would be prime habitat for wolves
- Suggests a population closer to 1000 wolves to help ensure genetic diversity needed for long term sustainability
- Prioritizes nonlethal methods to be used in conflict
- Limits lethal use of force except in extreme cases
- Where there are known resident wolves the area will be designated an “Area of Known Wolf Activity” with CPW working with ranchers on nonlethal management, proper documentation of wolf predation and conservation.
- Public access to all determinations about relocation, predation and management methods used
Read the full Colorado Wolf Restoration Plan
Stakeholder Advisory Group
Looking at the members chosen to be on the advisory board a few things stand out. It’s heavy of the hunter and rancher side and pretty thin on the animal welfare side. The two environmental groups listed, Defenders of Wildlife and National Wildlife Federation are both pro hunting. Out of the 19 members only 2 don’t have hunting, ranching, animal captivity or agriculture listed as either a pastime or part of their job.
It does seem odd for a group of people deciding when/where and how wolves will be re-introduced mostly come from industries hostile to wolves. Shouldn’t an advisory board be made up of those wanting wolves to come back and thrive?
Growing up ranching and hunting will absolutely affect the lens one looks through to make decisions.
So where does that leave the wolves?
Are they coming into a welcoming state, or one that is ready to kill them for a myriad of excuses. Unless the draft plan is updated with truer conservation policies and goals, this will likely fail. We need wolves; the ecosystem is not balanced or healthy without them.
We do not need to kill them.
For one thing, the false notion they would overpopulate is aimed toward public acceptance of killing them. With over-hunting much of their food source like deer, elk and pronghorns, it seems highly improbable they would over-breed since breeding is correlated to food supply. Furthermore the land and water is pretty polluted from all the mining and livestock, so that will also cut down population with disease of both the wolves and their prey food. Let’s not forget poaching.
One must question why putting a federally protected species on state and private land is even a consideration. The draft plan almost seems designed to fail.
We forge ahead in 2023 hoping Colorado is serious about conservation in action, not just press releases.