Not wanting non-residents to get the wrong idea from my previous post, here’s some background information. Bringing wolves back to Colorado was very narrowly approved in a 2020 statewide vote, as you can see in the accompanying illustration. The state question called for releasing the wolves on the Western Slope, which is mostly farming and ranching country. So too our “out east” plains, although I don’t think of them as wolf country.
Not surprisingly, most of the negative votes came from rural parts of the state, while most of the pro votes came from more densely populated urban areas. Obviously the urban areas won’t have to deal with the wolves, while the rural areas will.
Colorado State University released a report in April 2022 that examined the motivations of voters on both sides of the issue. It noted that opponents weren’t necessarily opposed to wolves per se (so they said), but thought wolves should be allowed to repopulate the state naturally. Easy to say when wolves are routinely killed in Wyoming before they can get to Colorado.
Obviously mine was a pro vote. I want to see endangered species saved. I want to see wolves thriving in their natural habitat — wild and rural areas, lightly populated or protected areas where they lived before being deliberately exterminated by humans in the 1940s.
Perhaps that sounds too glib coming from a lifelong city girl — not ignorant, not naive, but admittedly unlikely to ever encounter a wolf in the wild. That’s fair. But I am angry about those Wyoming hunters who lure Colorado wolves across the state line in order to slaughter them. I’m speaking only for myself; I don’t know how others feel. It’s just the principle of the thing — that thing –that infuriates me.
And yes, I tend to get hung up on principles.
I can actually Like this post without reservation. 🙂
You did say yesterday something along the lines of how difficult it will be for those moronic bastards to lure the wolves owing to a distance factor, Colorado: that’s still the case ?
The last I heard, the plan was still to release the wolves on the west side of the Divide, about 60 miles south of the Wyoming state line. But they will disperse and some of them will undoubtedly head north. Given that half the voters were opposed to reintroducing wolves in the first place, I’m guessing there will be little opposition to Wyoming hunters killing every one they can lure across the line. Many of those Colo. voters (ranchers and farmers) would likely kill the wolves themselves if they thought they could get away with it.
I just came across a 107-page Colorado Parks and Wildlife booklet with everything anyone might want to know about this wolf thing. It may take a few months to read through it.
I can understand why farmers and ranchers don’t like them, but one has to admire their intelligence and culture. If wolves would hunt down geese and feral pigs, they would be more popular.
Oh, I do appreciate the position of farmers and ranchers. And as long as their opposition remains within legal boundaries, I’ve no problem. But those jerks in Wyoming who lure and slaughter our protected wolves …
Maybe once the wolves get settled, if we provided an ample supply of geese and feral pigs, they’d develop a taste for them 😉
I voted yes. I think that this is a complicated issue, but the wolves are radio tagged (I think) and there are provisions to reimburse farmers if I remember right. The last time I was in Estes Park I was caught in an elk jam for so long I seriously was thinking that we needed some wolves…
Yes, the state reimburses ranchers for livestock killed by wolves. I’ve yet to be caught in an elk jam, although the videos I’ve seen are pretty amazing. And their numbers are becoming a problem. I’ve seen the golf course there so jammed with elk that no one could play. A few hunters are allowed to thin the herds in the fall, I think.
Somehow I got the idea that about 40 wolves were being brought in this year, but then read that 40-50 is the total over several years. Only 10 coming in this year. Hardly seems enough to worry about. I might feel differently if I’d ever encountered one, or lost a pet or livestock to one.
Oh yeah, there are a lot of elk up there! My poor little car (named Stumpy) was a little concerned there for a few minutes.
I once had a friend who worked for Colorado Fish and Game who told me that one reason for the outbreak of wasting disease in Colorado’s elk population was the lack of wolves. I did wonder, however, if there was a risk of sick wolves? I wonder if that is still a problem in the state’s elk population.
I don’t know about the current elk population but sick animals are probably removed as soon as they are discovered. I understand that all the wolves they bring in from Oregon will have been darted and checked thoroughly for any injuries or health problems before being selected for importation to Colo. All will be collared before release here.