Imagine your kids being stalked by a wolf on your own property, or a sleep-deprived rancher with several dead cattle and new-onset high blood pressure, or even a Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) employee who had to take mental health leave from his job because he was so stressed.

These are all examples of the human toll Colorado’s experimental non-essential wolf introduction has taken. Could this human conflict have been anticipated and minimized? Absolutely, but the federally-mandated environmental impact study was seriously flawed because important human factors were overlooked when the final environmental impact statement was published. The environmental justice analysis found the following:

“Disproportionately high and adverse impacts could occur on low-income outfitters and guides, subsistence hunters, and Tribes in local areas across most of the state….”

Unfortunately, livestock producers were not included, and they have suffered the greatest negative impact. The CPW-confirmed death toll stands at 15 cattle and nine sheep, since December 2023, with some ranchers estimating the body count to be twice that number. The Colorado State University Extension predicted these depredations back in 2020, when they stated: “Another factor associated with wolf attack is habituation — losing fear of humans. Habituation can occur when wolves are fed by people or within some protected areas.”

Habituation is precisely what has happened in Grand County, as two Oregon wolves; #2312 (aka Bonnie) and #2309 (aka Clyde), as well as their three pups have shown no fear of humans, and have been directly tied to multiple depredations of sheep and cattle. They are “protected”, in that the CPW will not issue a depredation permit for lethal take and now propose to capture and relocate the entire pack, making the wolves someone else’s problem.

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When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) did their environmental impact study, they neglected to do a Health Impact Assessment (HIA), which is a decision-support tool used by the Environmental Protection Agency to promote sustainable and healthy communities. It is a well-known fact those involved in ranching and farming frequently deal with stress-related health conditions, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, respiratory illness, headaches and depression. Thankfully, state Reps. Meghan Lukens, Anthony Hartsook and State Sens. Perry Will and Janice Marchman have recognized these stressors, and the vital need to address them. They were prime sponsors of Senate Bill 24-055: “Agricultural & Rural Behavioral Health Care”, which is concerned with the behavioral health care of individuals involved in agriculture.

Since an HIA was not done at the federal level, what was done by the State of Colorado to assess the human impact? Nothing, unfortunately. The Colorado EnviroScreen, developed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), is an interactive environmental justice mapping and health screening tool, but it fails to consider less tangible exposures such as the abrupt placement of wolves on the landscape, which may negatively affect a person’s physical and mental health, as well as their livelihood.

We are at a critical juncture, with 2025 rapidly approaching, and the next group of 15 wolves scheduled to be released in a few short months. Because this experiment involves complex interactions between the environment, wolves and people — human well-being must also be considered. In research ethics, the principle of the primacy of the human being, states: “the interests of the human subject should always take precedence over the interests of science and society.”

Clearly, that should be the case here in Colorado. The USFWS and CDPHE should immediately carry out a joint Health Impact Assessment to include all residents who may be affected by past and future introductions of wolves on the Western Slope. The concerns of livestock producers and their families; rural residents; outfitters and guides; subsistence hunters and tribal members all need to be heard. The HIA should be completed, with action items identified and resolved, before any additional wolves are considered for introduction.

John M. Williams, Sr., MD, MPH is a board-certified physician in Colorado, with degrees in zoology, medicine and public health. He is the founder of the 7,000-member social media group “Colorado Wolf Tracker”, and is also a former senior medical director for UnitedHealth Group and a former medical advisor for the National Farm Medicine Center. He can be found on X @MedicusOmnibus