As Colorado Parks and Wildlife is forging ahead with plans to reintroduce more wolves this winter, it met with commissioners and staff from four northwestern counties to discuss plans. 

During the first week of November, the wildlife agency held a half-day meeting in Rifle with representatives from Rio Blanco, Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin counties. 

According to a news release, all four of these counties are possible release areas for the next 15 wolves from British Columbia.

“We feel it is important to provide insight into our planning process, highlighting how we select potential release sites that align with these established boundaries,” Travis Black, Parks and Wildlife’s Northwest Regional Manager, stated in the release. 

The state’s wolf restoration plan establishes geographic boundaries and restrictions on where gray wolves can and cannot be released. More specifically, there are two zones, one in the northwest — which falls along the Interstate 70 mountain corridor between Glenwood Springs and the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels near Silverthorne — and one just south of that in Gunnison and Montrose counties.

Wolves may only be released on state-owned lands. 

Since the wolves can travel significant distances in relatively short periods, the agency’s biologists are also attempting to predict where potential movement could occur from release spots to mitigate impacts to humans and livestock. 

Additional factors being considered include the availability of natural prey sources when the wolves will be released, habitat availability, access and safety for staff and animals, potential weather impacts and more. 

The first 10 wolves were released into the northern zone in Grand and Summit counties. And in August, the agency said the next wolves would be released in similar areas to help supplement those initial wolves.

While Parks and Wildlife met with these four counties to help them better prepare to have additional wolves on the landscape, no final decisions on exact release spots have been made. The agency said the final release sites will not be determined until capture and release operations are underway. These efforts are expected to begin in January. 

“Variables, including weather, animal welfare, staff safety, and many other day-of-operation logistics and possible scenarios, are taken into consideration when making the final decisions for release,” the agency stated in the release.

In addition to meeting with these four counties, Parks and Wildlife teamed up with the Colorado Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture to host conflict mitigation meetings across the Western Slope with producers and stakeholders. The meetings provide a high-level overview of available resources and best practices for ranchers and communities to prevent conflict with wolves. 

So far, there have been sessions in Moffat, Routt, Rio Blanco, Garfield and Jackson counties with additional meetings planned in Eagle and Gunnison counties in December. 

While Parks and Wildlife hosts these meetings and plans for the next release, it is getting pressure to halt efforts. In October, a group of 26 livestock and stockgrower organizations petitioned the agency’s commission, requesting a pause until more proactive steps are taken to support producers. 
The petition is on the agenda for the Commission’s next meeting on Thursday, Nov. 14 in Lamar.