On Dec. 18, 2023, as required by a state law passed by voters in 2020, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) released five gray wolves into western Colorado, the culmination of a multi-year process developing a wolf reintroduction plan with the involvement of numerous wildlife experts, activists, and individual pro- and anti-wolf stakeholders. Unfortunately, conservative wolf opponents, including some ranchers and local elected officials, complained they had not been invited to the release or informed about it ahead of time.

Since then, CPW Director Jeff Davis graciously apologized for the lack of communication before the release. Nevertheless, given the numerous malicious and graphic death threats made against Colorado’s released wolves that showed up on the internet in December, providing advance notice to the public clearly would have risked the lives of both CPW employees and the wolves themselves. To ensure the safety of both CPW personnel and the wolves, CPW was right to have released the wolves with little advance public notice.

CPW Director Davis has also come under fire for rejecting a request by North Park rancher Don Gittleson to kill Wolves 2101 and 2301. Gittleson deserves sympathy for attempting to manage his livestock with a wolf den apparently nearby and suffering the loss of several of his livestock to wolves.  

But, the vast majority of the depredations of Gittleson livestock occurred prior to 2023 when a larger pack was still together in North Park, before many of its members were reported lured into Wyoming and killed. With only two wolves left from the original pack, depredations declined dramatically in 2023. Nevertheless, this situation has led Gittleson and legislative leaders to call on CPW to define the term “chronically depredating,” since that finding could trigger the killing of wolves. 

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However, during CPW’s three-year-long wolf planning process, both the Technical Working Group (TWG) and Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG), each comprised of people who both support and oppose wolf reintroductions, recommended CPW not define “chronically depredating,” partly because there are many factors to consider and no clear objective way to draw that line, and partly because doing so would lead to public expectation lethal control would be implemented (rather than considered) as soon as that line is crossed. 

CPW Director Davis deserves praise for following the wolf management plan adopted by the CPW Commission in May 2023. And Gittleson deserves all the assistance Colorado can provide to safeguard his livestock.

The outcry about the December wolf releases and CPW’s rejection of Gittleson’s request to kill Wolves 2101 and 2301 underscores the understandable anxiety about reintroducing wolves felt by many, especially in the ranching community. Change is difficult to accept, especially if it means reintroducing a predator burdened with centuries of myths and scaremongering that has informed human perceptions of wolves. Ironically, we revere wolves as a symbol of power, strength and hunting ability.

Fortunately, after nearly 34 years of wolves living alongside elk, deer, bison and domestic livestock in the northern Rockies, we know a lot about coexistence. In Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, wolves are responsible for about 0.03% of livestock mortality each year, for which ranchers are compensated by their state wildlife agencies. Wolves simply are not a meaningful threat to the livestock industry. And since wolves were reintroduced in 1995, elk populations in all three northern Rockies states have only expanded. Wolves are not a threat to elk populations or hunting.

And, as people in the northern Rockies have gained experience with wolves during that period, public acceptance has grown. According to a recent study by the University of Montana: “In 2023, 74% of the general population said they were ‘tolerant’ or ‘very tolerant’ of wolves, up from 50% in 2017 and 41% in 2012.” We can expect public acceptance of wolves in Colorado to follow that same positive trajectory.

In Colorado, the path forward to peaceful coexistence with wolves is paved with many elements.

First and foremost, the public deserves to be fully educated about wolves and their role in maintaining ecological balance and health.

In fact, without wolves, Colorado has no chance of significantly reducing the prevalence of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and restoring our ecosystems to health so they can withstand the effects of ongoing loss and fragmentation of habitat and, of course, climate change. CPW has an obligation to educate Coloradans and our visitors about the positive benefits to ungulates, habitat, watersheds, and nature’s balance of restoring this native species to its historic habitat.

Second, CPW, wolf advocates and ranchers are to be commended for working together to deploy livestock protection measures, including grazing management, low-stress herding, range riding, fladry and guard dogs. These conflict minimization tactics have worked in the northern Rockies and will work well in Colorado, 

Third, Coloradans should know financial support is available to ranchers from a variety of sources: CPW’s creation of the most generous wolf predation compensation program in the nation; the CSU-hosted Wolf Conflict Reduction Fund; legislative appropriations to fund compensation for livestock losses (Wolf Depredation Compensation Fund); the “Born to be Wild” vehicle license plate which raises money for CPW to implement nonlethal livestock protection measures; and mobilization of millions of dollars for coexistence initiatives under U.S. Department of Agriculture grant programs.

CPW is making heroic efforts to support ranchers, including hiring five new wildlife conflict specialists, providing training and deployment of conflict reduction tools in western slope communities in collaboration with ranchers, and engaging in extensive community outreach to provide all stakeholders with educational materials about protecting livestock and coexisting with wolves. 

All Coloradans should unite to support Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Support CPW’s dedicated leadership, staff and oversight commission. Support the ranchers who seek peaceful coexistence, and give state wolf restoration a chance to work.

James Pribyl is a former chair of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, who lives in Frisco and Louisville. He has also served on the Colorado State Parks Board and as CPW Commission Representative to GOCO.