DENVER — Colorado Parks and Wildlife plans to reintroduce wolves by the end of the year, but a bill passed by the Senate could delay that plan.
The bill requires that the federal government issue a rule called 10(j) before the wolves get reintroduced.
The federal government lists gray wolves as an endangered species. If the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a 10(j) rule, Colorado's wolves would be considered an "experimental population." That would give the state more flexibility to create management plans. Those plans can include how and when a person could kill a wolf.
"Not every wolf gets into trouble. They are a predator and sometimes they do," said Nicole Alt, Colorado Ecological Services Supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"Our intent is for the 10(j) rule to apply to any wolf that's found in the state of Colorado," Alt said.
Ranchers have been asking for the rule.
"Maybe we'll see them here, maybe we won't, but someone's going to see them," said Rachel Schowalter from Rocking U Ranch near Collbran.
As an endangered species, the only scenario where a person could kill a wolf is to save human life.
"If they're killing your dog in front of you, you're not allowed to do anything," Schowalter said.
Wolf advocates have told Colorado Parks and Wildlife they don't want the rule issued.
"I don't think there should be any hunting of wolves, ever," someone at a CPW Commission meeting said.
"Allowing hunting of wolves only makes depredation worse," another person said to the wildlife commission.
CPW has asked the Fish and Wildlife Service for the rule.
The state's draft plan to manage wolves includes issuing permits for ranchers to kill a wolf in certain situations, like if they catch a wolf actively trying to kill livestock.
"It's just a management tool. It's an appropriate tool that I think we can be trusted with," Schowalter said.
With the rule so important to ranchers, some state lawmakers want to make sure wolves don't get reintroduced without it.
"We're trying to make it workable," said state Sen. Perry Will, a Republican from the Western Slope.
He sponsored a bill that says wolves cannot be reintroduced until a 10(j) rule is issued.
"It's really just that simple. We want that designation before the reintroduction of wolves," Will said.
He points out most of the Western Slope did not vote in 2020 to reintroduce wolves.
"It's kind of like taxation without representation. We get regulation without representation," Will said.
The Senate passed the bill Monday, with a vote of 28-6.
"We have to have that before there's paws on the ground," Will said.
The bill moves to the House now. Gov. Jared Polis opposes it.
“The voters gave Colorado Parks and Wildlife the responsibility to begin wolf reintroduction by December 31, 2023," a spokesperson for the state's Department of Natural Resources said. "After extensive stakeholding and 18 public meetings across the state, CPW is proceeding with seeking a 10-J to maximize the ability to successfully manage wolf populations. This proposed legislation or any legislation that interferes with the process established by CPW could impact the ability of CPW to successfully introduce and manage wolves to Colorado."
WOLF ACQUISITION
Colorado has not yet secured a source to get wolves, said a spokesperson for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. 10(j) could also affect Colorado's ability to acquire the wolves it plans to reintroduce.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says they intend to issue the rule by mid-December, and the state plans to reintroduce wolves by the end of that month.
The head of Wyoming's Game and Fish Department said there would need to be a lot of consideration before a state would say yes to Colorado, including 10(j).
"We would likely be very interested in what the status of that 10(j) was, if we were going to consider anything," said Brian Nesvik the Director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, in an interview with 9NEWS.
Nesvik says 10(j) would also be important for Colorado to have a successful wolf reintroduction.
"The one thing I can definitely predict though is there will be conflict, and having a 10(j) in place will be something, I think, that will be very important for the wildlife management agency," said Nesvik.
Wolves in Jackson County
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