Area No Longer Insulated From Controversial Issue
Trevor Phipps
In January, when the newest round of more than a dozen wild wolves was released by state wildlife authorities, initial reports indicated that possibly a lone female wolf trekked near the Teller County border.
Then according to the newest wolf tracking map released by the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife (CPW), officials have officially confirmed that a female animal predator did indeed cross the Teller County border, sometime between January 21 and February 25.
This has raised the angst of some ranchers and property owners, who clearly side with the concerns of other rural land owners in other parts of the state who have sternly challenged the pro-wolf policies of the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife. The issue has created much controversy and has spawned a possible future ballot issue that could end this program. A proposed ballot initiative, partially sponsored by former El Paso County Commissioner Stan VenderWerf, recently cleared a key state hurdle, pertaining to the language of the plan, and could end up on the 2026 ballot. If enough signatures are generated and most voters give the okay, the program will end at the end of 2026.
At the same time, state officials say they are trying to improve efforts to become more transparent about wolf sightings and movements, a byproduct of the wolf introductory effort, endorsed previously by the voters of Colorado in 2020. Views are quite divided on this issue.
Proponents say the primary advantage of Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program is the potential to restore ecological balance by regulating large herbivore populations, such as elk and deer. Critics argue that Colorado ranchers, and their livestock, have now become easy prey for the released wolves.
The latest wolf map released at the end of February shows wild animal activity spanning at least one watershed within Teller County, along with activity being tracked in Park, Fremont, Custer and Chaffee Counties. Previous reports claim a wolf was spotted around the Florissant Fossil Beds. According to CPW, the wolf collar only sends data every six hours.
Williams said that the new process set up by CPW does notify certain stakeholders within the county when they receive data that a wolf has entered a new region “What they are doing now is very transparent,” Williams said. “We get a call as commissioners. Then they call the sheriff and then they call the large landowners. It seems to be working ok in Teller County. We are not at zero, but it just tells you how far the wolves can travel.”
CPW officials previously confirmed at a county commissioner meeting that one lone wolf traveled more than 100 miles from where it was released into Southern Colorado. The data received by CPW points towards the fact that the wolf entering Teller and neighboring counties from the north was a solo female that was possibly looking for a mate.
The CPW official stated that the wolf has stayed in elk habitat, and has not depredated any livestock. They have been able to confirm that the wolf killed at least one cow elk.
The recent wolf activity map showed that these wild animals released on private lands in Pitkin County at the beginning of the year have now spread to other parts of the state. However, most recent activity shows the wolves travelling west and north to areas around Garfield and Mesa Counties. Wolves have gone as far north as the Wyoming border and as far west as the Utah border.
So far, the lone female wolf has been tracked the furthest east and the furthest south of any of the other collared wolves. If what the experts think turns out to be correct, the solo wolf will most likely find her way back to an area populated with other wolves for mating season.
Another Wolf Killing
Just after another 20 wolves (15 released from Canada and five from the Copper Creek pack that were re-released) came to the Colorado wilderness, another livestock depredation was confirmed. This time though, officials say that the depredation incident was most likely caused by an un-collared wolf.
On February 5, CPW officials received a report of a possible wolf depredation incident in Jackson County in the north part of the state. After an investigation, the wildlife officer on scene concluded that a cow had died as a result of depredation by a wolf.
“The depredation is believed to have been committed by a wolf that is not part of the Colorado reintroduction effort and is not collared in the North Park area,” a CPW press release stated. “CPW was able to reach this conclusion as no collared wolf data are present in that area. CPW has functioning GPS collars on all reintroduced wolves and two known wolves from a breeding pair that moved into the state from Wyoming in 2021. The un-collared fifth pup from the former Copper Creek Pack was confirmed to be in another location of the state at the time. The recently announced presence of a wolf in northwest Moffat County is also not believed to be involved in this depredation. The origin of the animal is unknown at this time.”
After CPW successfully released the second year in a row of wolf releases on January 18, the department put out a press release discussing what they are doing to be more transparent and prevent wolf depredations. CPW plans to contract a dozen range riders across the state to help reduce livestock depredations. The agency also said that they work with the public to try hard to alert stakeholders when wolves travel to previously unchartered territory.
