County opposes wolf reintroduction initiative
While Colorado is in the early planning stages of carr ying out the voter-mandated reintroduction of the gray wolf, it’s already facing resistance from one rural county in the northwest corner of the state — and more are expected to join.
Rio Blanco County’s Board of County Commissioners last week approved a resolution declaring Rio Blanco a “Wolf Reintroduction Sanctuary County,” essentially daring Colorado Parks and Wildlife to bring the wolf back into the county under the state law passed by voters in November.
Rio Blanco officials are encouraging neighboring counties to follow their lead in allowing natural migration, but objecting to “ar tificially reintroduced wolves.”
“We are more alike than we are different,” board chairman Gary Moyer said. “Right now it feels like a war is being waged on rural Colorado, and they are coming at us from every direction. However, we are also stronger together, and it will be hard to ignore us if we are working together.”
County Attorney Tom Starr said Rio Blanco “would respect the natural migration of wolves. We’re just asking CPW pay attention to the science and the over whelming desire expressed by our citizens in the vote to not introduce them ar tificially in our communities.”
Gray wolf populations are to be restored in Colorado after a November ballot measure that narrowly passed with the support of urban voters. In Rio Blanco County, voters opposed wolf reintroduction 3,148 to 437, according to state election data. The proposition was opposed by ranchers and farmers, who decried the power of the urban vote that drives so much of Colorado’s politics.
That urban-versus-rural battle will be on full display as CPW develops its plan to reintegrate wolves into the state.
On Thursday, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission discussed progress on the plan, which requires the state to have a sustainable number of wolves on Colorado public lands west of the Continental Divide by December 2023. Important details remain unknown, such as how many wolves will be brought to the state, which established wolf populations in other states will source Colorado’s packs and where they will be released.
To get there, CPW is setting up multiple advisory groups to help with planning, including a stakeholders group and a technical advisor y group. The agency also is hiring a facilitator who will lead public meetings and guide public involvement in the planning and development of a public education program.
The commission still must figure out how to pay for the reintroduction and during Thursday’s meeting several commissioners said they did not want to fund the wolf project by increasing the cost of hunting and fishing licenses and other outdoor recreation fees.