For Immediate Release
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.
