Colorado Parks and Wildlife, facing mounting criticism from the Trump administration over its management of the wolf reintroduction program, announced Wednesday they will not bring in any new wolves to the state for the 2026 winter season.

CPW was turned down in November by Washington state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Washington residents criticized Colorado for mismanaging the program.

CPW director Jeff Davis resigned in lieu of termination weeks later.

The CPW announcement didn’t mention the pushback the agency is getting from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which on Dec. 18 demanded Colorado provide a complete report of all gray wolf conservation and management activities between Dec. 12, 2023 — the day the first wolves from Oregon were released in Colorado — to the present.

Failing to do so, warned Brian Nesvik, the head of USFWS, and the federal government would terminate Colorado’s authority to manage the wolves.

In October, Nesvik issued a “cease and desist” letter to CPW, stating the agency could not bring in any more wolves from British Columbia, although CPW had already signed a contract for $400,000 for another batch of wolves for the 2026 release season.

Nesvik claimed CPW lacked the authority to bring in wolves from outside the six Western states where wolves were supposed to be sourced.

That’s a 180-degree change from the Biden administration, which granted Colorado permission to obtain those wolves, according to a Feb. 2024 letter from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and as reported by the Colorado Sun on Jan. 8.

CPW planned to release wolves in the “southern oval” of the designated wolf area on the Western Slope, starting in Gunnison County.

Wolves have already migrated from Eagle and Pitkin counties into Gunnison, as evidenced by dead livestock last year that CPW confirmed were killed by wolves.

Kathleen Curry, a member of the Gunnison County Stockgrowers Association, including on their wolf committee, told Colorado Politics, “We are very grateful to learn that CPW will not be releasing wolves during this winter release period. This is a good fit with the argument we made with our petition (last year), seeking a temporary timeout in the release process.”

Even though the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission never reviewed the petition, “it’s gratifying to know that they realize we were correct in our request.”

While the CPW announcement said it would provide an update on wolf population “source plans,” the announcement did not, in fact, include any information on where it was looking for wolves.

Acting CPW Director Laura McClellan said, “During this intermediate time, CPW will continue to meet with producers and other stakeholders, including U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to explore how to maximize the restoration effort and achieve our plan of establishing a self-sustaining gray wolf population in Colorado. Our team has invested in a significant conflict minimization program, and we look forward to exploring how we continue to improve this program with producers to protect both livestock and wolves.”

In 2025, CPW paid out more than $500,000 to producers whose livestock were killed or significantly impacted by wolf activity in 2024, including with lower market weights and reduced reproduction.