DENVER — Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) held a commission workshop on Wednesday to discuss planning for the reintroduction of gray wolves.
Voters passed Proposition 114, an initiative in November that asked to allow CPW to reintroduce and manage grey wolves west of the Continental Divide by the end of 2023.
The public workshops are the first step towards reintroducing gray wolves into Colorado.
The virtual meeting took place from 9 a.m. to noon and was open to the public. It can be viewed in the video player below:
About 3.1 million votes were cast, and the the initiative passed by a margin of 57,000 votes, meaning the wolves will officially reside in Colorado for the first time since about the 1940s, when they were eradicated from the state.
A wolf pack has recently been spotted in northern Colorado, and the species has been reintroduced in Idaho and Montana as well as Yellowstone National Park in the 1990s.
During a virtual meeting on Jan. 14, CPW approved the initial phases of the reintroduction process.
Two groups are also being created to serve as advisory bodies to the commission: a Technical Working Group and a Stakeholder Working Group.
The public is encouraged to submit written comments, and more information on commenting can be found on CPW's website.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Animals and Wildlife