Reintroducing wolves to Colorado

Conflict avoidance needs to be proactive. Wolves are native to Colorado and are highly-adapted carnivores. They are naturally inclined to feed on deer, elk, and other native prey. But when non-native, unprotected livestock are on the landscape, they represent easy feeding opportunities for wolves. State officials and livestock owners should be required to do their part by taking robust, proactive conflict-avoidance measures. A thorough, state-led education and outreach effort is paramount for success.

Wolf hunting should never happen. Wolves are intelligent, social animals. Pack structures, prey, and territorialism combine to regulate wild wolf populations. Science indicates that there is no need to “cull” or keep a population “in check.” So, any wolf hunting is trophy hunting and only done for sport. Proposition 114 explicitly calls for wolves to be a “non-game species.”

Compensation needs to be fair for the Colorado public, wolves, and livestock owners. Livestock owners should be compensated for real, documented impacts to their herds and flocks. But in order to qualify for compensation, the bare minimum should be done to protect livestock. That means removing dead livestock carcasses promptly and having human presence near livestock when wolves are in the area.

Colorado’s public lands should be managed for use by all Coloradans, the majority of whom voted for wolf reintroduction and believe in coexisting with the state’s native species. Public lands are expected to provide for public values, including habitat for native wildlife species. Wolves should never be killed on public lands except in extreme cases of threats to human safety. If wolves are persecuted and killed on public lands, that calls into question the very purpose of these lands. Grazing livestock on public lands is a privilege, not a right. That privilege comes with the responsibility to coexist. Dead wolves is antithetical to coexistence.