The Trump administration announced Thursday it will strip endangered species protections for gray wolves, though it’s coincidental to Colorado’s current vote on reintroduction to the state, a federal official said in a briefing with reporters.

“That’s a state initiative and it didn’t factor in our delisting action,” said Gary Frazer, the assistant director for endangered species for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, “so we did not consider how it might be affected by our action.”

It does and it doesn’t.

Proposition 114 would reintroduce gray wolves to the Western Slope, make it illegal to kill them unless they’re threatening a human and compensate farmers and ranchers who lose livestock to the apex predators.

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Wolves have been on the federal Endangered Species List for 45 years.

Frasier said he expects legal challenges to the broad 48-state rule. He noted that delistings usually occur in certain areas.

Environmental groups quickly responded Thursday that the delisting was premature and misrepresents wildlife science, positioning it as a political decision by the Trump administration — especially given the announcement’s proximity to next Tuesday’s election.

VOTER GUIDE 2020 | Colorado Ballot: Proposition 114 asks for voters' stances with wolves

Frazer pushed back.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service prides itself on making its determinations based purely on the best scientific and commercial data available,” he said. “I would note we’ve proposed delisting gray wolves due to recovery under different administrations, Democrat and Republican.”

As Frazer listed locations were wolves exist outside the Northern Great Lakes region, he included northwest Colorado, where a small pack was confirmed in January. 

If the Department of Interior doesn’t protect and manage wolves, however, it would fall to the state to do so, and the Colorado Wildlife Commission has previously sided against reintroducing wolves. That changes the vote, since the power of the voter might force Colorado Parks and Wildlife to take on the responsibility.

The commission adopted a wolf management plan in 2004 on the premise that wolves might return to the state naturally, but more recently noted that the federal government, not the state, is responsible for protecting endangered species.

“One common misconception is that if a ballot initiative passes to reintroduce wolves, CPW will assume immediate management control of the species,” the state agency said in a statement about Proposition 114 before Thursday’s announcement. “As long as the gray wolf remains a species listed under the Endangered Species Act in Colorado, CPW has no management authority, which is not always clear in the current conversations around this topic.”

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is funded with fees paid by fees paid for hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreation on public lands.

“In Colorado, the wolf has been functionally extinct for nearly 80 years and remains so today,” said Rob Edward of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund, the group driving Prop 114. “More than ever, we need wolves to restore the balance in our mountain ecosystems. We need to reintroduce wolves to improve the health of our elk and deer herds, which are suffering from a high prevalence of the always-fatal chronic wasting disease.”

He said removing federal protections only highlights the importance of Colorado’s vote to direct the state to provide and enforce a science-based plan with public input to reintroduce about 40 wolves to a region with 17 million acres of public land.

The Colorado Cattlemen’s Association said the federal decision provides the science that wolves can make it on their own, so the state shouldn’t interfere by reintroducing wolves via the ballot.

“Proposition 114 is a reckless and expensive assault on Colorado’s economy, wildlife and livestock production, and not to mention an already growing wolf population,” Janie VanWinkle, the association’s president, said in a statement Thursday. “Colorado Parks and Wildlife has an efficient, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-recognized management plan in place, which is actively protecting wolves within the state. For the sake of Colorado’s treasured wildlife, and fragile economy, Coloradans need to vote no on Proposition 114.”

U.S. Rep. Ken Buck of Windsor, who doubles as the state Republican Party chair, applauded the Trump administration’s announcement. He singled out Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who grew up in Rifle and attended the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.

“State and local officials are better equipped to make important decisions about how best to manage wildlife populations while protecting farmers, ranchers, and businesses,” he said Thursday. “I applaud the secretary for this thoughtful decision.”

Bernhardt issued a statement Thursday, as well.

“Today’s action reflects the Trump administration’s continued commitment to species conservation based on the parameters of the law and the best scientific and commercial data available,” he stated. “After more than 45 years as a listed species, the gray wolf has exceeded all conservation goals for recovery.

“Today’s announcement simply reflects the determination that this species is neither a threatened nor endangered species based on the specific factors Congress has laid out in the law.”