Wolf re-introduction plan includes Aspen, Roaring Fork region for likely releases
Vail Daily
Colorado Parks and Wildlife/Courtesy image
The Highway 82 corridor from Glenwood Springs to Aspen and the I-70 corridor between Glenwood Springs and Vail are likely to be the first areas where gray wolves are re-introduced to the state.
Colardo Parks and Wildlife plans to release wolves during winter, from November to March, as cold temperatures create less stress for these wolves, and fall presents conflicts with hunting season, CPW officials said.
CPW has concluded that large, contiguous areas of public lands with a high abundance of prey and low livestock densities will be the best sites for re-introduction.
Wolves will be released on state or private lands — not federal lands — because CPW does not have the staffing or financial resources to undertake the required National Environmental Policy Act analysis prior to any federal land management agency authorizing releases on federal lands, according to the plan approved this week by CPW Commission.
“Specific release locations will not be made public in this plan in order to protect private landowner information and sensitive species locations, but targeted outreach will occur with potentially affected stakeholders prior to release,” according to the plan approved Wednesday.
10-15 wolves per year
CPW plans an initial release of 30-50 wolves over three to five years, expressing a preference to release the animals at a pace of 10 to 15 wolves per year. After the initial release, active re-introduction will stop, and post-release monitoring will determine if the effort to establish a self-sustaining wolf population in Colorado has been successful.
“All released wolves will be monitored using satellite GPS collars, which will inform managers on survival and dispersal, as well as future release protocols,” according to the plan.
The success of these efforts will be determined by the wolves’ survival rate in the first 6 months after release, with a survival rate of less than 70% initiating a review of the program. The program will be deemed successful if released wolves demonstrate low mortality rates over the initial 2-3 years post-release, wolves remain in Colorado, re-introduced wolves successfully form pairs and reproduce, and if wolves then born in Colorado also survive and reproduce.
After the first-year releases occur in the areas between Vail, Glenwood Springs, and Aspen, a second area along the Highway 50 corridor between Monarch Pass and Montrose could also see wintertime releases in later years.
“Subsequent release sites will be considered based on the efficacy of the initial release,” according to the plan approved Wednesday.
Thousands of comments
The intent of the wolf re-introduction effort is to create a self-sustaining population of wolves that will restore a natural balance on wild lands in the state.
Groups like the Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance and the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund spoke out in favor of wolf re-introduction in 2020 when it was placed on the Colorado ballot and approved by voters later that year.
“The presence of wolves can change elk behavior, keeping them from grazing stream-side vegetation out in the open,” the ESWA wrote in an editorial. “By allowing aspen and willows to recover along those streambanks, songbirds return and beavers recolonize these areas, building dams, improving water storage, and trout habitat. Wolves are not a panacea, but restoring wolves to their natural habitat in Colorado undoubtedly will, in the long term, send positive ripples through our mountain ecosystems.”
The Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund wrote, “Wolf re-introduction is seen as one way to improve the health of elk and deer herds suffering from chronic wasting disease.”
Wolf predation on livestock, however, was raised as a major concern for re-introduction.
“My constituents in central and Northwest Colorado will be directly impacted by the re-introduction of wolves into Colorado,” said Sen. Dylan Roberts, of Avon. “It is vital that … an adequate source of funding to compensate ranchers for their losses is guaranteed.”
As a result of those concerns, the CPW Commission supported revising the draft plan to raise the cap on livestock compensation, as well as guard and herding animal compensation, to $15,000 per animal.
Gov. Jared Polis said the revised plan is better due to the thousands of Coloradans who provided input.
“This science-based plan is the result of months of planning, convening stakeholder and expert working groups, and offering live and public comment opportunities, while factoring in the biological needs of the species and creating the best possible chance for these amazing animals to be successfully restored to our state,” he said.
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