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Wolf Reintroduction Costs Mount as Colorado Faces Another Budget Shortfall
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Approved, Aspen Times, State

Wolf Reintroduction Costs Mount as Colorado Faces Another Budget Shortfall

By: Ali Longwell | The Aspen Times A Joint Budget Committee briefing looked at how Parks and Wildlife has spent general fund allocations on wolves. To implement Colorado's voter-mandated reintroduction of gray wolves, the state legislature annually allocates $2.1 million as well as additional funds for compensating ranchers for wolf-related livestock losses. Colorado Parks and Wildlife/Courtesy Photo Colorado lawmakers continue to raise questions about the cost of the state’s wolf reintroduction during the early phases of the annual budgeting process for 2026. On Tuesday, Dec. 9, the Joint Budget Committee was briefed by committee staff on the 2026 budget for the Department of Natural Resources, which includes Colorado Parks and Wildlife.  It’s the second step in th...
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State Leaders Should Pause Colorado Wolf Effort After Series of Blunders
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The Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

State Leaders Should Pause Colorado Wolf Effort After Series of Blunders

By The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Gazette Five years after Coloradans voted by a razor-thin margin to reintroduce wolves to Colorado, they are right to look at the job state officials and agencies have done and ponder whether this a dog that just doesn’t hunt. Amid criticism from pro-wolf advocates and anti-reintroduction ranchers alike, is it past time for a moratorium? The latest bungled bit in the state’s fumbling reintroduction saga is the “stepping down” — demotion, reassignment, whatever public-relations-friendly term you prefer — of former Colorado Parks & Wildlife Director Jeff Davis. Before the end of last month, and amid the holiday news haze preceding Thanksgiving, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources announced Davis “stepped down” and wa...
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Copper Creek Wolves Linked to Another Livestock Killing in Gunnison County
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Copper Creek Wolves Linked to Another Livestock Killing in Gunnison County

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette A heifer found dead in eastern Gunnison County on Nov. 22 was killed by one of the yearlings from the Copper Creek wolf pack, according to a rancher, who did not want to be identified. It’s the fourth livestock death in November attributed to wolves. Two calves and a ewe were also killed by wolves in November in Routt, Pitkin and Rio Blanco counties, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The Copper Creek pack is believed to be responsible for numerous livestock deaths in Pitkin, Gunnison and Grand counties. One of the yearlings was killed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) staff in May in Pitkin County after a weekend of livestock killings; a second was shot by wildlife officers in Rio Blanco County in September after it killed si...
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Latest CPW Data Shows Wolves Moving Toward Boulder and Jeffco
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Latest CPW Data Shows Wolves Moving Toward Boulder and Jeffco

By: Stephanie Butzer | Denver7 Since the 2023 approval of the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, CPW has said that wolves are expected to expand widely over the years, including to the Front Range. DENVER — A new map shows more gray wolf activity along the Front Range than previous records, with at least one animal — if not more — exploring central Boulder County and northern Jefferson County. According to the latest wolf movement map released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Wednesday afternoon, the wolves have been moving around the watersheds northwest of the Denver metro area up toward Boulder and appear closer than ever to the Front Range. The below map shows watersheds outlined in purple. If it is filled in, it means that at least one collared wol...
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CPW Director Steps Down After Turbulent Wolf Reintroduction Fight
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

CPW Director Steps Down After Turbulent Wolf Reintroduction Fight

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Davis, who led reintroduction of wolves to Colorado, will move into an executive role in the Department of Natural Resources. Maj. Gen Laura Clellan will lead CPW until new boss is hired. The director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, who ushered in the state’s wolf reintroduction program amid widespread scrutiny over many of his decisions, is stepping down.  Jeff Davis announced Tuesday he will move to the Colorado Department of Natural Resources executive director’s office as a senior policy advisor for strategic priorities.  Replacing him as interim director is retired Maj. Gen. Laura Clellan, formerly the executive director of the Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. She will start Dec. 1.  A statement from...
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Colorado Does Not Need More Candidates. Colorado Needs a Future.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado Does Not Need More Candidates. Colorado Needs a Future.

By Sean M. Pond | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado is at a crossroads, and everyone living here can feel it. The cost of living has exploded. Families are working harder than ever yet falling further behind. Housing has slipped out of reach. Power bills climb. Groceries drain budgets. Fuel prices punish long commutes. Child care costs rival mortgages. Communities wonder how long they can stay in the state they love. All the while, the people in charge talk about saving the world while ignoring the people who actually live here, in Colorado.  We hear speeches about climate and national image. We hear big promises about transformation. We hear talking points that sound polished but solve nothing. What we do not hear is practical leadership. What we do...
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CPW Responds to Claims It Violated Federal Guidelines in Wolf Transfer From Canada
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

CPW Responds to Claims It Violated Federal Guidelines in Wolf Transfer From Canada

By: Karen Morfitt | CBS Colorado Updated on: November 13, 2025 / 9:24 PM MST / CBS Colorado Colorado Parks and Wildlife is moving forward with their wolf reintroduction plan even as they face additional challenges around where the wolves will come from. This comes after a former U.S. representative for Colorado who, along with other stakeholders, raised concerns that CPW may have violated state law by importing wolves from Canada. "I would say that no one has the authority to violate the Endangered Species Act. Section 9 clearly states that it is a violation of the Act to import wolves into the United States," said Lopez in a statement to CBS Colorado. "Section 10 requires the Secretary of the Interior to issue an exemption to Section 9 by publishing that exempti...
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Federal Investigation into Colorado Wolf Death Underway, Questions Remain Over Legality of Importing Wolves
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Federal Investigation into Colorado Wolf Death Underway, Questions Remain Over Legality of Importing Wolves

By: Christa Swanson | CBS Colorado Colorado Parks and Wildlife said an investigation is underway after a female gray wolf died in southwest Colorado last month. They received a mortality alert for wolf 2506 on Oct. 30. The wolf was part of a group of wolves from British Columbia that were brought to Colorado in January. Because gray wolves are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, it's illegal to harass, harm, or kill them without federal authorization. Officials said they will determine the wolf's cause of death following a necropsy and investigation. The reintroduction of gray wolves into Colorado has been a controversial one. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has spent about $3 million to relocate 30 wolves to the state since 2023, nearly four times...
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Study Finds Wolves Cut Ranch Income Nearly 30 Percent
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American Farm Bureau, Approved, National

Study Finds Wolves Cut Ranch Income Nearly 30 Percent

By: Daniel Munch | American Farm Bureau While the expansion of gray and Mexican gray wolf populations is often hailed as a conservation success, the consequences for ranching families can be gruesome, costly and complex - threatening the safety of ranch families and their pets and livestock, as well as the long-term survival of multigenerational ranches and the rural economies they anchor. Focusing on the Mexican gray wolf, a recent University of Arizona study analyzes both direct livestock depredation and indirect effects such as stress-induced weight loss and elevated management costs based on 2024 cattle prices. Findings are based on survey responses from impacted ranchers, modeling of herd-level financial outcome and county-level livestock performance trends. In areas w...
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Feds to Polis administration: Stop importing wolves from Canada
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Feds to Polis administration: Stop importing wolves from Canada

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette Efforts by Colorado Parks and Wildlife to bring in more wolves from Canada later this year may have hit a snag after the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service told the state it may not do so. In an Oct. 10 letter, Brian Nesvik, director of USFWS, told Gov. Jared Polis and Jeff Davis, director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), that Colorado is not allowed to bring in gray wolves from Canada or Alaska. Any wolves brought to Colorado as part of the wolf reintroduction program must come from one of the lower 48 states, the agency said. Nesvik cited what’s called 10(j) rule, noting USFWS authorized the state to release and establish gray wolves in Colorado as an experimental population “subject to Service oversight.” However, the 10(j) rule o...
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