DENVER — Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said Friday it has found its first source for gray wolves after voters decided in 2020 to reintroduce the species into the wild.
CPW said it reached a one-year agreement Friday with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to receive up to 10 wolves.
Curt Melcher, director of the Oregon wildlife department, said the wolves will come from the northeast part of the state where they are most abundant and their removal will not impact conservation goals.
"This agreement will help ensure Colorado Parks and Wildlife can meet its statutory mandate to begin releasing wolves in Colorado by December 31, 2023," said CPW Director Jeff Davis.
CPW said capture operations will begin in December, and the Colorado agency will be responsible for all costs associated with capturing and transporting the wolves, including the following:
- Contracting helicopter crews and spotter planes to capture wolves.
- Testing and treating the wolves for disease at source sites.
- Placing collars on wolves and getting physical measurements in the field in Oregon.
- Transporting wolves in aluminum crates to Colorado via truck or plane.
Animals with major injuries will not be chosen for reintroduction. That includes wolves with several broken canines, missing eyes, fractured or missing limbs, mange or lice infection. CPW also said it will make an effort to transplant wolves that have not been involved in repeated depredation incidents.
Eric Odell, CPW wolf conservation program manager, said the wolves will be released at "select sites" as soon as possible after they arrive in Colorado to minimize stress on the wolves.
"CPW will aim to capture and reintroduce an equal number of males and females," Odell said. "We anticipate that the majority of animals will be in the 1- to 5-year-old range, which is the age that animals would typically disperse from the pack they were born in.”
"We are deeply grateful for Oregon’s partnership in this endeavor, and we are now one step closer to fulfilling the will of the voters in time,” said Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.
The wolf reintroduction program has been met with opposition from ranchers. Janie VanWinkle is the co-owner and co-manager of VanWinkle Ranch near Grand Junction.
“We in the livestock business are doers, and we are fixers, and we are caretakers,” VanWinkle said.
She works up to 16 hours per day. VanWinkle is worried this move will affect her job, and whole life, in just a matter of months.
“There's really not a lot we can do about this — it's just beyond frustrating,” VanWinkle said.
Michelle Dennehy is the spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. She said this process is nothing new.
“It's something that we've done for other states, and they've done for us,” she said. “We're going to provide them with some wolf location information.”
Once they’re brought back to Colorado, VanWinkle is worried about where the wolves will wander.
“We all know wherever the wolves are released they won't stay, so they will scatter quickly,” VanWinkle said. “I just can't imagine to be honest with you what the impact will be and how we will manage it.”
There are plenty of impacts for ranchers with wolves in Colorado, including the financial impact.
“Of course dead animals, that means money,” VanWinkle said. “There's years and years of genetics that are put together by producers, we cannot just go buy more of the same cattle because we spend a lifetime putting this herd together.”
VanWinkle said if her animals know wolves are in the area, stress on the livestock increases, which means decreasing weight gain and conception rates.
VanWinkle is ready to find a way through alongside her family as a fourth generation producer, so she can keep producing for other families.
“We anticipate being here a long time and this is just one more piece that makes it harder and harder to do business,” VanWinkle said.
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