In the 1940s, the gray wolf was nearly eradicated from the Southern Rockies. The species naturally expanded into habitats in Colorado they occupied prior to its near extirpation from the conterminous United States. Wolves were reintroduced in the northern Rocky Mountains in the 1990s and since at least 2014, solitary wolves have entered Colorado. A resident group in northwestern Colorado was confirmed in early 2020. In June 2021, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) reported that the first litter of wolf pups had been born in the state since the 1940s. Voters narrowly approved a November 2020 ballot measure that directed the commission that oversees CPW to develop a plan to begin to reintroduce wolves by the end of 2023, somewhere on the Western Slope. The wolves are managed and designated as a non-game species, meaning they cannot be hunted, with compensation being offered for any livestock killed by the predators. Wolves were protected as they are listed as endangered under federal and state law. As part of the reintroduction effort, the federal government in 2023 granted Colorado the authority to manage and kill wolves in specific circumstances. Colorado wildlife officials released 10 gray wolves from Oregon into a remote forest in Grand and Summit counties in late December 2023 as Colorado became the first state where voters directed the reintroduction of gray wolves rather than the federal government. Another fifteen wolves were released in Eagle and Pitkin counties in January 2025.
Extirpation and protection
Wolves once thrived here due to the availability of a number of big game species such as American bison, elk, and deer. Other prey for the wolves included a number of small game species like rabbits and rodents. Extirpation was caused by the decimation of the wolf's main prey species like bison, the expansion of agriculture, and extermination campaigns during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As wolves turned to the nontraditional food source of fenced in and relatively defenseless cattle, Colorado established a bounty for killing wolves in 1869. These efforts included state bounties, which, at times, offered upwards of $1,000 for wolf pelts—significant income for ranchers and trappers as settlers perceived wolves as threats to livestock and human safety. After the trapping and poisoning of wolves in Colorado in the 1930s, the last wild wolf in the state was shot in 1940s in Conejos County.
In the 1960s and 1970s, national awareness of environmental issues and consequences led to the passage of laws designed to correct the mistakes of the past and help prevent similar mistakes in the future. Wolves in the United States were protected under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1978 as they were in danger of going extinct and needed protection to aid their recovery. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the gray wolves' endangered species status at the beginning of January 2021, when more than 6,000 wolves inhabited nine states. After federal wolf protection ended, the states and tribes became responsible, once again, to manage the animal and regulate hunting. In Colorado wolves continue to be classified as a protected endangered species. Fines, jail time and a loss of hunting license privileges can result from violations. In February 2022, a judge ordered federal protections for gray wolves to be restored under the Federal Endangered Species Act, which returned management authority to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Natural recolonization Wolves have been dispersing from the northern Rocky Mountains since they were introduced there in the 1990s. A Wolf Working Group was formed in 2004 to create a management plan that provides policy for Colorado wildlife managers as they handle potential conflicts between the wolves, humans, and livestock. Their report recommended that any wolves that migrate to Colorado "should be allowed to live with no boundaries where they find habitat". They also decided against pursuing wolf reintroduction. They recommended using various types of technology for monitoring their movements (GPS animal tracking and Camera traps), along with a management plan that would provide flexibility for ranchers concerned about attacks on livestock, and deal with concerns that wolves might impact the population of other species like elk. The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission affirmed and supported the recommendations. When considering the issue of wolf reintroduction in 2016, the commission adopted a formal resolution opposing intentional release of wolves.
Six gray wolves were photographed or killed in Colorado between 2004 and 2019. These animals are most likely from the natural dispersion of those reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. Wildlife officials made a number of additional sightings in 2019. By 2021, some 3,000 wolves were inhabiting portions of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Northern California. A pack of six wolves was confirmed in Moffat County in northwestern Colorado in early 2020. Hunters likely killed three members of the pack within a few months just across the border in Wyoming where hunting wolves was legal. F1084 (originally mislabeled as M1084), from the Snake River Pack in Wyoming, wandered more than into Colorado before her tracking collar went dead. She formed a breeding pair with M2101, a four-year-old male weighing approximately who was collared in February 2021. Governor Jared Polis dubbed the animals "Jane" and "John", respectively, and welcomed the pair to Colorado. Collaring the wolf was the first opportunity for Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to start the process of managing and tracking what's happening in Colorado since they gained authority over the species after the animals were removed from the endangered species list. Officials confirmed that they had six pups and were living in the state in June 2021, the first known litter in the state since the 1940s. One of the pups, a female, was fitted with a tracking collar in February 2022. The wolf was designated as F2202 using the first 2 digits to indicate the year and sequentially assigned the next 2 digits with an odd number for males and an even number for females. Physical evidence such as tracks and scat are also used by wildlife officers to track and observe wolves' movements and behaviors.
Western slope reintroduction
Reintroducing wolves has been suggested by some, at least since the wolves were protected under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1978. While Colorado was not included in the 1987 Northern Rocky Mountain Recovery Plan, citizens of Colorado showed strong support for reintroducing wolves to their state, and a generally positive attitude towards wolves when Congress explored the possibility in 1992. A study, conducted in 2019 while the petition for the state to reintroduce wolves to public land in the Colorado Western Slope was being circulated for signatures, found a high degree of social tolerance or desire for wolf reintroduction in Colorado. The study also found that the media in Colorado reflected the concerns of those who might have their livelihoods impacted because of the loss of hunting opportunities, and potential for wolf predation on livestock. The concerns also included the safety of people and pets. After the petition was certified in early 2020, commissioners in several counties on the Western Slope passed resolutions opposing reintroduction of the animals. Less than a month after this ballot measure was scheduled for the November ballot, the establishment of a group of wolves in northwestern Colorado was confirmed by Parks and Wildlife (CPW). In November 2020, the ballot measure was narrowly approved by voters. The measure directed the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to develop a reintroduction plan, using the best scientific data available, for gray wolf reintroduction in western Colorado west of the Continental Divide by the end of 2023. The measure also required fair compensation to be offered to ranchers for any livestock killed by wolves. CPW, which is overseen by the commission, began public outreach to gather input as the details of the plan such as management strategies, were needed to be worked out by the state agency.
One of the arguments in favor of wolf reintroduction was that they help maintain healthy ecosystems. As an apex predator and keystone species, they help maintain healthy and sustainable populations of other species by preventing overpopulation and overgrazing. The rural Western Slope, where the wolves will be reintroduced, voted heavily against the measure, while the more populous Front Range mostly supported the measure. Passage of the referendum was opposed by many cattle ranchers, elk hunters, farmers and others in rural areas that argue wolf reintroduction is bad policy which will threaten the raising of livestock and a $1 billion hunting industry. It was vital to ranchers that effective mechanisms are in place ahead of time to ensure fair sharing of the economic burdens that wolves generate. Typically, other Western states spend between $1 and 2 million annually for compensation, cost-sharing and management. While multiple studies have shown local declines in big game populations caused by wolves, other limiting factors such as severe winters, drought, other predators, or human hunting have acted in conjunction. The presence of wolves may also move the elk or deer around more which could make hunting a bit harder.
This vote made Colorado the first state where voters directed the reintroduction of gray wolves. Previous efforts by the federal government have brought back populations of wolves to the northern Rockies, New Mexico, Arizona and the Carolinas. In June 2021, CPW reported that the first litter of wolf pups had been born in the state since the 1940s. They were born to a pair of wolves that had naturally entered and settled in the state. This number of wolves is considered insufficient to establish a sustainable population.
Impact on ranching