DENVER — A tribe in Idaho wants to give grey wolves to Colorado to reintroduce before the end of the year, 9NEWS learned on Tuesday.
In 2020, a majority of Coloradans voted to reintroduce grey wolves before Dec. 31, 2023. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) officials have spent months searching for a source. The state received three rejections, including from the state of Idaho, but now the Nez Perce tribe hopes to help Colorado's reintroduction efforts.
"We definitely would love to support the reintroduction into Colorado because of the species and because of the environment," said Shannon F. Wheeler, Nez Perce tribal executive committee chairman.
He said his tribe remains spiritually connected to wolves, which is part of why they want to see the reintroduction in Colorado succeed.
“It falls in line with who we are spiritually as people and culturally as people," Wheeler said.
The tribe and the state of Colorado don't have an agreement right now. CPW officials reached out to the tribe in July. Since then, staffs have talked, and Wheeler said he spoke once with Gov. Jared Polis. Wheeler said they gave CPW a draft memorandum-of-understanding (MOU), and they're waiting for a response.
"I'm confident that our technical staffs can come together and get everything that needs to be place in there ... and therefore meet the needs of the state of Colorado," Wheeler said.
"Both parties understand that we're trying to work towards one common goal," said Aaron Miles, the Nez Perce natural resources director.
> The video above aired Sept. 20: What if Colorado fails to meet the wolf reintroduction deadline?
Colorado's Wolf Management Plan prioritized getting wolves from Montana, Idaho or Wyoming. All three states rejected Colorado. Wyoming said no before Colorado even asked, Idaho turned Colorado down in early June, and Montana formally said no over the summer.
"We take a different position in how we view the wolf than the state of Idaho does. We don't see them as a (hunting) tag," Wheeler said, but he acknowledged some of the issues Colorado has.
Colorado also asked Washington state and Oregon to provide wolves. Both states are still considering the request, but Washington officials made it clear they would not provide wolves this year.
9NEWS has reached out to CPW, Polis's office and Idaho officials.
New research projects show where wolves would do best in Colorado. The state won't announce the exact release location, but the location will be picked, in part, by how residents voted.
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