Durango, CO. This weekend, on the 30th anniversary of the restoration of wolves to Yellowstone National Park,  Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) has begun the process of this winter’s wolf release season . Just as the 1995 reintroductions in central Idaho and Greater Yellowstone ensured a population across the Canadian and U.S. Northern Rockies, the Colorado reintroduction ensures that the Southern Rockies will once again be home to the gray wolf.

Thirty years ago to the day, the first gray wolves returned to our first national park, and now new wolves will return to the vast wildlands of western Colorado. Western Colorado is the central link in the restoration of gray wolves throughout the Rocky Mountains, and it is fitting that it falls on the 30th anniversary of the first releases in our first national park.

Rocky Mountain Wolf Project board member Matt Barnes, a rangeland scientist who previously worked with ranchers in Montana and Wyoming, underscored the unique nature of Colorado’s wolf restoration efforts. “Colorado is better prepared today than any of the Northern Rocky Mountain states were when the National Park Service reintroduced wolves thirty years ago.”

Barnes continued, “Colorado is the first state to have a wolf management plan that ranchers and wildlife restorationists agreed to, and since CPW released that plan, Colorado has made a massive investment in conflict minimization. For example, the range rider program led by the CDA and CPW will put trained riders on the ground to reduce livestock vulnerability during the critical periods of spring calving and summer grazing on mountain rangeland. Only two other states have comparable state-led range rider programs.”

The thousands of Coloradans who have purchased the ‘Born to be Wild’ license plate, a bipartisan solution that raised a whopping $641,950 in its first year, will help fund the Colorado range rider program.

“CPW has continued its professional implementation of the Colorado wolf restoration plan. The additional wolves will help to both ensure the success of the effort and protect the investments already made. With the support of Colorado’s voters and the CPW Commission, the future is bright for Colorado’s wolves,” said Gary Skiba, Rocky Mountain Wolf Project Board Member and San Juan Citizens Alliance Wildlife Program Manager.

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21-Dec-2024

Durango, CO – Today, Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) Director Jeff Davis delivered a staff recommendation to the CPW Commission, asking that the Commission deny the September 2024 petition to pause wolf reintroduction. The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project lauds this action by CPW staff.

“We’ve had no further wolf releases in the last twelve months, so we’ve effectively been on pause. During that time, CPW and Colorado Department of Agriculture have built out robust livestock conflict minimization programs, and addressed all the points raised in the petition—the CPW staff recommendation puts a fine point on all of that,” said Rob Edward, President of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project.

CPW has been working tirelessly to establish a science-based program that will help livestock producers prevent conflict with wolves. This work includes convening an ad hoc group of livestock producers, CPW staff, and conservationists tasked with hammering out guidance regarding instances of repeated depredation.

“From the development of a range rider program, to the wildly successful first year of the ‘Born To Be Wild’ license plate, to the good work of the ad hoc group, Colorado is showing the rest of the world what it means to be good stewards of our wildlife and good partners with our agricultural producers.”

Edward emphasized the fact that Colorado’s first year of wolf restoration went largely as expected. “No project of this magnitude goes off without a few hiccups and opportunities for improvement. We expected some conflict with livestock production. Likewise, that some of the freshman class of wolves perished for various reasons cut us to the core, but didn’t come as a surprise. Despite these challenges, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has proven themselves a world class wildlife management agency.”

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16-Dec-2024

DURANGO, CO – A coalition of leading conservation organizations recently delivered a unified letter to Colorado’s Joint Budget Committee (JBC), calling on legislators to maintain full funding for the state’s wolf restoration program. This plea comes as budget debates intensify, with some lawmakers considering cuts or delays to the voter-mandated initiative because of a projected $1 billion state budget deficit for 2025-26.

The letter emphasizes the ecological, fiscal, and democratic importance of continuing the program, which has already proven to be collaborative and adaptive to the needs of communities on the ground. Notably, the program includes comprehensive conflict minimization strategies, such as the newly launched range rider program.

“Colorado voters made their voices heard through Proposition 114, setting the stage for the return of wolves to the Centennial state. To cut funding now would disregard the will of the people and waste the investments already made,” said Rob Edward, President of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project.

“Over the past year, certain agricultural groups and legislators have promoted a deeply misleading narrative, casting unfair blame on Colorado Parks and Wildlife for wolf-related conflicts,” said Edward. “This effort to defund the restoration program disregards the democratic mandate from Colorado voters and undermines the ecological and societal benefits of wolf reintroduction. The law requires CPW to establish a sustainable wolf population. Attempts to block funding not only jeopardize this goal but also diminish respect for the electoral process and the broad public support for restoring wolves to their rightful place in Colorado’s wild places.”

Delia G. Malone, President of ColoradoWild, highlighted how certain elements the agricultural sector have leveraged their own subterfuge and lack of earnest engagement to paint then program in a harsh light: “Colorado’s ranching community has had years to prepare for the return of wolves. Yet rather than fully embracing proven non-lethal coexistence measures that have succeeded for decades in the Northern Rockies, Canada and Europe, some have chosen obstruction over collaboration. From lawsuits to influencing western governors against providing wolves for reintroduction, these actions undermine the program. Earnest preparation could have prevented the unfortunate losses in Middle Park—instead the rancher suffering the brunt of losses maintained an open carcass pit that lured wolves into proximity with livestock.” A copy of CPW’s lethal take permit denial letter appears at the end of this press release.

Jim Pribyl, Board Member of the Colorado Nature League, said, “Unfortunately, for many years, opponents to restoring wolves to their historic, native habitat on Colorado’s bountiful public lands have peddled utterly unsupported myths about wolves’ threat to livestock, as well as elk and deer. The scientific realty of 35 years of wolf behavior in the northern Rockies and Great Lakes region is just the opposite. Livestock losses proven attributable to wolves are less than one-tenth of one percent, (one of 10,000) of total herds.”

Gary Skiba, Wildlife Program Manager, San Juan Citizens Alliance said, “One of our challenges in the 21st century is restoring native wildlife that were extirpated.  It’s both an ecological and moral issue; wolves belong in Colorado, and we are in the process of righting a past wrong.  We can’t stop now.”

“Coloradans have substantial investment in wolf recovery and it would be both fiscally and ecologically irresponsible to disrupt that momentum at this point,” said Delaney Rudy, Colorado Director for the Western Watersheds Project.

CPW’s wolf program received the Earnest Thompson Seton award from the national Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in recognition of their work this year. “Wildlife professionals across the country have expressed their confidence in CPW’s wolf reintroduction, and it is inappropriate for the legislature to undermine this tremendous effort, its progress toward ecological integrity, and the will of the Colorado voters,” said Rudy.

“A subset of Colorado’s livestock industry has already tried to derail this restoration program and to label it a ‘failure’,” said Chris Smith, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians. “Wildlife reintroductions take time, patience, and resources. Cutting funding at the outset of a voter-mandated restoration effort is nonsensical and bad politics.”

Legislators have debated whether a pause or reduction in funding could ease fiscal pressures, with some citing potential savings of $2.1 million annually. However, proponents argue such cuts would undermine years of planning and collaboration and may ultimately increase costs because of program disruptions.

Funding cuts could negatively impact efforts to reduce conflicts with livestock production, both directly and indirectly. Cuts to compensation and proactive conflict reduction tools are the most obvious direct impacts. An often overlooked means of reducing the chance that an individual wolf will prey on livestock is to ensure that there are enough wolves on the ground to ensure pack formation, which promotes a greater ability for wolves to hunt wild game.

The coalition’s letter, co-signed by 12 conservation organizations representing hundreds of thousands of Coloradans, underscores the program’s efficient use of resources and alignment with scientific recommendations for genetic diversity and population sustainability.

As Colorado Parks and Wildlife prepares for its next round of wolf releases, conservation groups urge lawmakers to uphold their commitment to a future where wolves thrive alongside human communities.

A copy of the letter is available at: https://www.rockymountainwolfproject.org/wp-content/uploads/NGO-Letter-to-JBC-Fully-Fund-Wolf-Restoration.pdf

A copy of CPW’s letter denying a lethal take permit is available here: https://www.rockymountainwolfproject.org/wp-content/uploads/CPWs-Denial-Letter-to-Lethal-Control-Request-from-Middle-Park-Proudcers-8-24.pdf

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The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project is dedicated to the restoration of gray wolves to their historic range in the Rocky Mountain West. Through education, advocacy, and collaboration, the Project seeks to foster coexistence and restore vitality to ecosystems where wolves once thrived.

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DURANGO, CO – Today, the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, joined by a coalition of partner organizations representing millions of American and Canadian residents, announced the delivery of a letter to Honourable Randene Neill, Minister, and the Honourable Lori Halls, Deputy Minister, Deputy Minister, of British Columbia. The letter expresses gratitude for their 2024–2025 partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to translocate gray wolves from British Columbia to Colorado. It also calls on the Ministry to stand firm against pressures to disrupt this groundbreaking agreement.

“This partnership is an inspiring example of international collaboration to restore an iconic species to its rightful place in the American West,” said Rob Edward, President of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project. “British Columbia’s partnership with Colorado shines a light on their commitment to biodiversity and ecological stewardship, and we deeply value their leadership.”

Colorado’s voters mandated the wolf reintroduction program through a 2020 ballot measure. However, livestock industry pressure has driven multiple states and tribes to refuse participation in sourcing wolves, leaving British Columbia as one of the few remaining viable partners.

“Efforts to undermine this agreement are nothing short of an attempt to sabotage Colorado’s democratically mandated reintroduction program,” added Edward. “British Columbia’s wolves are uniquely suited to help establish a thriving population in Colorado, as they once did in Yellowstone National Park and Idaho. We must not allow special interests to derail this shared conservation success story.”

The letter also highlights the proactive steps taken in Colorado to address challenges, including habitat suitability analyses, nonlethal conflict mitigation tools, and range rider programs to minimize livestock depredation.

Ecologist Delia Malone, President of ColoradoWild, emphasized the core principles of Colorado’s wolf restoration program. “Why does Colorado need wolves? Gray wolves are a native keystone species who, when present in ecologically effective numbers, and families are unharmed, would be instrumental in restoring Colorado’s biodiversity and ecosystem health.”

“CPW’s agreement with British Columbia to secure wolves as part of Colorado’s historic gray wolf reintroduction program showcases an international commitment to conservation successes.” said Kaitie Schneider, Defenders of Wildlife’s Colorado Wolf Representative. “Colorado is prepared to collaboratively employ all tactics and strategies available to prevent livestock conflict, and Defenders stands ready to help.”

“The same interests lobbying Canada have also retained high-powered law firms and spent significant money on advertising – all to obstruct the implementation of Colorado law,” said Lindsay Larris, conservation director for WildEarth Guardians. “If even a bit of those resources and that energy were put towards helping livestock owners coexist with wolves, we’d probably all be in a much better place.”

“Colorado’s partnership with British Columbia to restore the state’s wolf population proves that regions working together can achieve extraordinary outcomes for wildlife and ecosystems,” said Alli Henderson, southern Rockies director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Colorado voters took an important step in 2020 to right a century-old wrong of killing native wildlife, often at the behest of the livestock industry. Amid continued efforts to thwart this native wildlife restoration effort, it’s crucial that Colorado and British Columbia stand with the voters and dismiss these obstructionist efforts.”

The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project and our conservation partners call on citizens in both the United States and British Columbia to voice their support for this critical translocation effort.

A copy of the letter is available at: https://www.rockymountainwolfproject.org/wp-content/uploads/NGO-Support-for-Wolf-Translocation-to-Colorado.pdf

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The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project is dedicated to the restoration of gray wolves to their historic range in the Rocky Mountain West. Through education, advocacy, and collaboration, the Project seeks to foster coexistence and restore vitality to ecosystems where wolves once thrived.

The post Conservationists Amplify Support for British Columbia/Colorado Wolf Translocation Agreement appeared first on Rocky Mountain Wolf Project.

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Contact:

Courtney Vail, Board Chair

Rocky Mountain Wolf Project

Phone: (480) 747-5015

courtney.vail@rockymountainwolfproject.org

Rob Edward, President

Rocky Mountain Wolf Project

Phone: (720) 213-6873

rob.edward@rockymountainwolfproject.org

Date: 09-Jul-2024

Rocky Mountain Wolf Project Celebrates Six-Month Milestone of ‘Born To Be Wild’ License Plate, Raising Over $300,000 to Reduce Conflict Between Wolves & Livestock

Denver, CO – The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project today hailed remarkable success for the ‘Born To Be Wild’ license plate, which has raised $312,800 to help protect livestock and wolves in just six months. This significant new revenue stream, which flows directly to Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW), exclusively funds non-lethal tools and strategies to reduce conflict between wolves and livestock in Colorado.

Approved by the Colorado General Assembly in the spring of 2023, the ‘Born To Be Wild’ license plate generates a perpetual revenue stream that is pivotal in deploying non-lethal conflict mitigation tools and techniques, including:

• Supporting the use of fladry fences, repellent lights, non-lethal munitions, and other visual and auditory deterrents that help wolves learn to stay away from livestock.
• Funding range riders to monitor livestock and deter wolf-livestock conflicts.
• Providing funding for trained livestock guardian dogs, which are proven to effectively deter wolves from approaching livestock
• Supporting research and outreach efforts to help improve these tools and increase adoption of them

Broad adoption of these conflict reduction tools is key to the long-term success of Colorado’s groundbreaking wolf restoration program. 

“We are encouraged by the public’s enthusiasm for the ‘Born To Be Wild’ license plate,” said Rocky Mountain Wolf Project Board Chair, Courtney Vail. “The incredible support from Colorado residents underscores a shared commitment to protecting our wildlife and promoting harmony between wolves and ranching communities. These funds will play a vital role in advancing our mission to protect wolves and livelihoods.”

The license plate, featuring a striking image of a wolf against Colorado’s picturesque mountains, has resonated deeply with the public. Its popularity signifies a growing awareness and support for humane and effective wildlife management practices.

There is widespread public support in Colorado for both wolves and ranching, and the plate provides a way for Coloradans to turn that philosophical support into financial support. That’s important because we’ve seen from the Northern Rocky Mountains that states that invest the most in preventative methods tend to have lower rates of conflict.

“The ‘Born To Be Wild’ license plate is not just a beautiful representation of our dedication to wolf conservation; it’s a practical way for Coloradans to engage with this important cause,” said Rob Edward, President and co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project. “Each plate sold helps make ranching with wolves present much less stressful and risky.” Edward pointed out these tools are already helping to prevent conflicts in Colorado, and they have a history of significant success in other areas with wolves.

The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project’s approach involves close collaboration with local ranchers, conservation organizations, and community members. By emphasizing non-lethal methods, the project aims to minimize the necessity for lethal control measures, fostering a more compassionate and sustainable solution to wildlife conflicts.

To ensure the long-term success of this visionary program to mitigate conflict, the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project encourages more Coloradans to join this effort by purchasing the ‘Born To Be Wild’ license plate. Together, we can secure a future where Colorado’s wolves and rural communities thrive in harmony.

For more information about the ‘Born To Be Wild’ license plate and how to purchase one, please visit www.wolfplate.org.

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About the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project: The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project is dedicated to restoring and maintaining the ecological balance of Colorado through the reintroduction and protection of wolves. By advocating for science-based management practices and fostering community engagement, the project aims to create a sustainable future for wolves and the people who share their landscape.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Historic day in the history of wildlife restoration

Conservationists celebrate the first release of gray wolves in Colorado

KREMMLING, CO – Today is a historic day in the history of North American wildlife management, as the first gray wolves were released in northwestern Colorado by Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff, beginning the process of restoring one of our native species. The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, along with conservationists throughout the country, celebrated the release, which was three decades in the making.

Dozens of Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff were on hand to open the cages and release the animals, along with Colorado Governor Jared Polis, and Rocky Mountain Wolf Project science advisor Dr. Joanna Lambert. 

The five wolves released on Monday were captured in northeastern Oregon on Sunday, treated by veterinarians, fitted with GPS collars, and flown to Colorado, spending only about 24 hours in captivity. The release was on state land west of the Continental Divide in Grand County. The wolves hit the ground running, and are not expected to remain at the release site. Based on distances traveled after the hard releases in Idaho in 1995, we can expect the wolves to travel from 20 to 150 miles before settling down.

The reintroduction followed decades of planning by conservationists, a state plan for migrating wolves by CPW in 2004, and Proposition 114 in 2020—the first use of direct democracy to restore an endangered species anywhere in the world. During the three years since the voters of Colorado mandated wolf reintroduction, Colorado Parks and Wildlife conducted an extensive process of collaborative public engagement, and with the input of a Technical Working Group and a Stakeholder Advisory Group, developed the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan. The state plan includes the reintroduction, livestock conflict minimization and compensation, and an impact-based management framework; it was unanimously approved by the Parks and Wildlife Commission in May.

On December 8, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) finalized an experimental population designation for wolves in Colorado, under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act, along with an in-depth Environmental Impact Statement, which provides management agencies with flexibility to address conflicts with people and livestock.

“Colorado has so much to be proud of in the events of today. It is a very rare occasion that humanity seizes the opportunity to reverse a historic injustice. I am proud to have been part of this effort, proud of Colorado, and proud of my colleagues who have helped this vision come to fruition. May all the wolves brought to Colorado find wild prey, a comfortable place to lay their head and a safe place to raise their pups.” said Rob Edward, strategic advisor to the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project. Edward also led the campaign for Proposition 114.

“This initiative is bigger than five wolves…  This is the culmination of action by citizens and practitioners who are working together to rectify past actions and make a difference in an era of biodiversity loss.  Putting an apex predator back into a system not only reassembles food webs and restores ecological integrity, but it also provides hope that we can live in a world where both humans and wildlife can exist”. said Joanna Lambert, PhD, a University of Colorado Boulder professor and science advisor to the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project.

“This is a historic day in the entwined histories of the western range and North American wildlife restoration,” said range scientist Matt Barnes, a former ranch manager who is now a science and coexistence advisor to the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, and founder of Reintegrating Wildness at the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative. “Having served on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Stakeholder Advisory Group, and seen how our agencies, state universities, and wildlife NGOs have worked to address the concerns of ranchers and rural Coloradans, I maintain that Colorado’s wildlife officials have done a great job, and have been transparent and responsive to stakeholders’ concerns. Colorado is better prepared today than Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming were when wolves were reintroduced there in 1995.”

“Through relentless persecution, we have shown our disdain for the wolf. Now, nature gets her turn as this important apex carnivore is returned to its rightful place amidst its historic range in the wildlands of Colorado, engendering and inspiring awe and hope as we continue to find a way to remedy our past mistakes and support ecologically-significant species on human-dominated landscapes,” stated Courtney Vail, strategic advisor to the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project. 

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The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, based in Colorado, is dedicated to working together for wolves and people. We are working towards a future where the myths and perceived negative impacts surrounding wolves are replaced by true coexistence between people and this much-maligned species, and where respect for both western livelihoods and an ecologically significant population of wolves can exist side-by-side in Colorado.

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For immediate Release

DENVER – The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project today hailed the decision of Regina M. Rodriguez (The United States District Court, District of Colorado) to deny a motion to halt the impending release of the first of several groups of gray wolves to Colorado.

Advisors to the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project are deeply concerned by these last-minute lawsuits to stop wolf restoration in Colorado, which are a delay tactic, an affront to the voters of Colorado, and an insult to the dedicated agency wildlife professionals who have worked hard to fulfill their legal mandate. Colorado wolf reintroduction is a state-led process—a historic first. It is an effort three decades in the making; the first use of direct democracy to reintroduce a federally protected endangered species to its historic range. 

In 2020, the people of Colorado voted to restore wolves through Proposition 114. Now codified as CRS 33-2-105.8, the law mandates that Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) develop a wolf restoration plan based on the best available science, designed to minimize conflicts with livestock producers, which they have done. Implementation is required to begin by December 31, 2023, a timeframe that has given the agency and the public over three years to prepare, including extensive consultation and engagement with livestock, hunting, and tribal communities.

The lawsuits from the Gunnison County Stockgrowers Association and Colorado Cattlemen’s Association (CCA), and from the so-called Colorado Conservation Alliance would, if successful, upend a longstanding public process that has involved many stakeholders, including livestock producers, many of whom were members of the organizations suing.

Colorado has had a live-and-let-live policy regarding wolves for almost two decades, since CPW adopted its 2004 wolf management plan developed by a stakeholder group that included ranchers (some of whom were members of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association), hunters, and wildlife conservationists. At the time, wolves were federally protected throughout the contiguous US. Since then, policies in Wyoming have changed, preventing wolves from successfully establishing a viable population in Colorado. 

Since Prop 114 passed, CPW has followed the law with a lengthy and highly collaborative public engagement process. This included a stakeholder process that involved ranchers (many of whom are CCA members), hunters, outfitters, wildlife biologists and conservationists. We are proud that some of our members were involved in that process, during which they worked hard to accommodate the concerns of ranchers. Livestock producers benefitted from this stakeholder process, receiving much of what they demanded, including the country’s most generous compensation program for livestock lost to wolves or other predators.

During the months of public hearings on the draft Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission heard from hundreds of Coloradans, including many members of the organizations behind this lawsuit. They made increases to an already generous compensation program before unanimously approving the final plan.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) produced an experimental population designation for wolves in Colorado, under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act, which provides management agencies with flexibility to address conflicts with people and livestock. Many members of the ranching community demanded this 10(j) rule, including the organizations that are suing. The 10(j) rule was preceded by a year-long public process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), with two public comment periods, which resulted in the final rule and accompanying Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 

It is time now to move forward with the plan that CPW developed, based on stakeholder collaboration, and the corresponding 10(j) rule which USFWS developed based on the EIS with public involvement.

Meanwhile, CPW, the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the USDA, our state universities, and NGOs, including RMWP, have been working hard to help prepare livestock producers for wolf restoration. We look forward to continuing to support livestock producers during and after the reintroduction. 

• We have visited ranches in North Park, where Colorado’s sole wolf pack has been located for the last two years. Some of us volunteered our time to help install fladry in North Park.
• We worked with northwest Colorado ranchers and Colorado State University to host a gathering of ranchers and wildlife advocates, where wildlife advocates learned about ranching, ranchers learned about wolf restoration, and there was broad agreement to work on conflict minimization.
• We developed the Born to be Wild license plate, which creates a funding mechanism for wildlife advocates to support non-lethal conflict minimization. According to the state’s fiscal note on the bill creating the plate, it may raise as much as $600,000/year for Colorado Parks and Wildlife to assist ranchers.
• We worked with Colorado State University to develop the Wolf Conflict Reduction Fund, and provided a generous seed grant to kickstart the fund and support two pilot projects assisting livestock producers.
• We have donated over $15,000 worth of conflict minimization equipment to CPW.

We are deeply disappointed that factions within Colorado’s livestock and outfitting industries filed these lawsuits. It is a disrespectful gesture to the people of Colorado, who widely support ranching, hunting, and wolf restoration.

“I am very confident that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife are on the right side of history and the law here,” said Rob Edward, strategic advisor to the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project. “This lawsuit is frivolous, with no merit, in fact or law.” Edward also led the campaign for Prop 114.

“What people are really arguing about here is not just wolves and livestock–we can and will have both–but competing visions for the future of the West, underlying values of wildness and domesticity, and even deeper cultural assumptions about the human place in the more-than-human world,” said range scientist Matt Barnes, a former ranch manager in Gunnison County who is now a science and coexistence advisor to the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, and founder of Reintegrating Wildness at the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative.

“While this lawsuit was expected, signaling the ongoing culture war against wolves and highlighting a perceived rural-urban divide, it does little to advance the interests of the very stakeholders it is professing to champion,” stated Courtney Vail, strategic advisor to the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project. “It will serve to further polarize wolf advocates and ranchers, dismissing and sabotaging the diverse community of supporters in Colorado who are actually seeking to assist producers, listen to their fears and concerns, and equip them with real solutions to successfully coexist with wolves in Colorado.”

“Humans have lived alongside wolves for our entire existence in the northern hemisphere. From all over the world, the science is clear that humans can live with large carnivores, even those that are potential predators of livestock,” said Joanna Lambert, PhD, a University of Colorado Boulder professor and science advisor to the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project. “If we are to live in a world where we don’t just kill everything that is challenging, then we must (re)learn how to live and coexist with wildlife, including predators.” 

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The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, based in Colorado, is dedicated to working together for wolves and people. We are working towards a future where the myths and perceived negative impacts surrounding wolves are replaced by true coexistence between people and this much-maligned species, and where respect for both western livelihoods and an ecologically significant population of wolves can exist side-by-side in Colorado.

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