# Wolf reintroduction in Colorado



## rtockstein (Mar 17, 2019)

Colorado apparently passed their proposition to reintroduce wolves to the western slope. 
☹

Since the grey wolf was just moved to being recovered in the ESA, I'm sincerely hoping they're able to effectively manage numbers, unlike what had happened to Idaho. I doubt they will be able to. Best of luck to those of you who live in or hunt regularly in Colorado!


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## Kwalk3 (Jun 21, 2012)

rtockstein said:


> Colorado apparently passed their proposition to reintroduce wolves to the western slope.
> ☹
> 
> Since the grey wolf was just moved to being recovered in the ESA, I'm sincerely hoping they're able to effectively manage numbers, unlike what had happened to Idaho. I doubt they will be able to. Best of luck to those of you who live in or hunt regularly in Colorado!


I think wolves are cool. I think they should have a place on the landscape. I realize I'm in the minority among hunters on that.

I also think that mandating the introduction into Colorado is a bad idea. There are already wolves in the Northwest corner of the state, and previous reintroductions elsewhere have been fraught with moving goalposts as far as "recovery" objectives that have hindered states abilities to effectively manage them.

I don't want to see the wolves introduced and not managed to the detriment of the ungulate species that draw so many hunters to Colorado every year. Pipe dreams though, as in Colorado, you also have a voting population who is much less likely to support the most efficient methods of management of wolves, unlike Idaho/Montana/Wyoming.

Tough road ahead.


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## rtockstein (Mar 17, 2019)

Kwalk3 said:


> rtockstein said:
> 
> 
> > Colorado apparently passed their proposition to reintroduce wolves to the western slope.
> ...


Oh don't get me wrong!! I think they are pretty cool too. I love hearing them in the night when camping in WY. I think there is also some pretty good evidence that they help keep CWD numbers down.

BUT, the issue is how to manage them effectively.

Also, the majority of state wildlife conservation and management agencies funding is coming from hunting and fishing tags and licenses and stamps. So I think it is unfair for a lot of people to be able to vote for a mandatory reintroduction, when it is very likely that most of them aren't contributing much, if anything to that conservation fund. I think the portion of CPWs funding that comes from the state's General Fund is only about 1%. And where is the funding for the cost of reintroduction and continued management of the wolves going to come from? I don't know, but I bet it's the same source as the rest of CPWs funding.

I just don't want what happened to Idaho to happen to Colorado and then Utah. I forgot the reason that I posted this was to get ideas from everyone on how to prevent it from happening in Utah.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

The biggest problem with the wolf reintroduction is that there are no plans as to the cost and or just who will pay for the problems that will arise. There is a idea that the state will pay for the livestock losses but that isn't written in stone yet. So for now all of the cost are on the CP&W and the sportsmen who purchase licenses.

It was ironic that last night a PBS station here in Colorado had a show on the moose in the state. They started with the first introduction of moose over 35 years ago when they got around 25 animals from Utah all the way to the transplants to the Grand Mesa east of Grand Junction.

All I could think of was what are the wolves going to do to this limited number of moose? Not to mention the elk and deer herds.

Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk


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## BigT (Mar 11, 2011)

This passing is very irritating to me. The majority of the votes that were in favor came from the major Denver area from happy go lucky folks high on their recreational weed. People who don't really spend any time in the hills. I have family there that voted in favor of this... They don't hunt, spend time in the great outdoors, etc. Just wanted it for whatever reason. 

I really hate the places they want to put them. National Geographic put an article out that the organizations pushing this which very few were actually in Colorado believe they can handle several hundred wolves.. But, most locations where they want to establish them will bleed heavily into Utah in places like the Book Cliffs, and all the way south to the La Sals. I can speak from experience that the La Sals can't afford the wolf there. Hopefully Utah DWR is ready to manage these things. 

They ought to release them in downtown Denver as a pilot and then vote on it again a year later!


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## Jedidiah (Oct 10, 2014)

Wolves are cool. Colorado is stupid. End result? Wolves get reintroduced, Colorado runs out of funding to manage them, we get to hunt them. This is what happens everywhere else, I don't see the problem.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

Colorado is stupid. (Sorry Critter) 

Good thing Utah can manage Colorado’s, Idaho’s, and Wyoming’s wolves.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Vanilla said:


> Colorado is stupid. (Sorry Critter)
> 
> Good thing Utah can manage Colorado's, Idaho's, and Wyoming's wolves.


I was surprised at how close the vote actually is on the subject

1,543,102 for and 1,504,228 against.

I actually thought that the voters that were for it would be a lot higher. But it is scary at how much money was spent by folks in California for a subject here in Colorado. If they can't get there way by moving here they will get the big spenders to spend it here.

However the wolf thing was going to happen one way or another. If it wasn't this election it would be back onto the ballot in 2022, and then in 2024 until it passed. That is what they did with MJ. It hit 3 or 4 ballots before it finally passed.


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

I love wolves, one o my favorite animals but I hope Utah treats them the way they do coyotes when they inevitably start moving into Utah.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Wolves are cool? If you've ever packed into the back country and have a pack of wolves think they are going to make dinner out of your horses and mules, and then you spend the next two days rounding up your animals...….Ya, I guess that's "cool".


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

Yes, wolves are cool. There is a way to avoid that if you’re worried about it, you know. Don’t go into the backcountry where wolves are located. 

Unmanaged wolves are a disaster. So, if you ever want to see elk in the Uintas on a general hunt again, make sure you manage wolves properly.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

If you like wolves and want to hear them howl you can go to a area that already has them. I was up in Canada for 10 nights and didn't hear a single wolf. There was plenty of evidence that they were in the area from all the moose and elk kills that we saw while hunting. 

If it would go anywhere I would like to start a petition to reintroduce grizzly bears to California and see how they like that.


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