Grueter: Possible wolves in Pitkin County

Jan. 8 article about the Colorado Parks and Wildlife wolves info session at Pitkin County Library didn’t tell the full story. I’m intrigued by the quotations that were included in last Wednesday’s piece about the library wolves meeting. The article seemed to portray CPW as uninformed and overextended. As a citizen attendee of the meeting, that was not the vibe in the room. CPW and Pitkin County representatives who spoke were articulate and thorough; though they disclaimed that working with wolves is newer for the agency, they continually reminded the audience that their agency has made a full digital library of information available to the public.
Matt Yamashita demonstrated enormous patience during the Q&A session after the presentation. Many questions seemed to be informed primarily by Little Red Riding Hood, Peter and the Wolf, and dark imaginings about bears rather than by practical information. Questions by stock producers in the audience were the most grounded in reality, and consequently, CPW was able to answer those questions more practically than the queries as to whether a wild animal would stalk someone on Hunter Creek Trail to steal a protein bar from their fanny pack.
I was surprised that Wednesday’s article seemed to center on the strain that wolf reintroduction is causing to the state agency rather than the extensive public outreach, ongoing information gathering, and diplomatic mediation CPW has been orchestrating between highly opinionated stakeholder groups.
Annalise Grueter
Basalt
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