Latest news with #Proposition114
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Coloradans Who Oppose Wolf Reintroduction Can't Agree on How to Try Ending It
A citizen initiative that sought to end Colorado's controversial wolf reintroduction program the same way it began — by ballot initiative — was rejected by the state's election officials Wednesday. The Title Board concluded that Initiative 35 will not be allowed to move forward into the signature-gathering phase due to a technicality; it violated the state's single-subject rule by trying to address too many issues in one go. Meanwhile, another initiative to halt wolf reintroduction in Colorado has been accepted by the Title Board. Initiative 13's supporters have until Aug. 27 to secure the 120,000 signatures necessary to get it on the November 2026 ballot. The ballot initiative would end the state's wolf reintroduction program by Dec. 31, 2026, but other Coloradans who also oppose the wolf program worry that reintroduction will be wrapped up by that date, anyways. The effort is likely to encounter additional stumbling blocks, as the group behind both initiatives faces pushback from Colorado's ranching and sportsmen's communities, as well as funding challenges. That group, Colorado Advocates for Smart Wolf Policy, released its first fundraising report Tuesday, and it showed the group had only raised about $29,000, falling well short of its $200,000 goal, according to Colorado Politics. Earlier that day, CASWP received a letter from a group of ranchers and county commissioners asking it to halt both initiatives. 'We share the underlying frustration with the administration's approach to implementing Proposition 114,' the letter reads. 'Unfortunately, the effort to end the gray wolf reintroduction was initiated without consulting the primary stakeholder groups and constituencies most affected by the wolf reintroduction. As a result, this approach is at odds with the strategy and policy outcomes that our coalition is working on.' Read Next: Colorado's Wolf Reintroduction Has Cost Taxpayers Double What They Expected When They Voted to Approve it The commissioners' letter followed a similar plea from a coalition of 22 hunting, fishing, and wildlife conservation groups. In its April 11 letter, the Colorado Wildlife Conservation Project explained that while its member groups agreed with the sentiment behind the push to repeal, they could not support the policy changes included in Initiative 35. In addition to ending Colorado's wolf reintroduction program by Dec. 31 2026, Initiative 35 also called for: Removing the 'nongame' status of gray wolves Redefining livestock to include livestock guard docks and herding animals Prohibiting the importation of any wolves (not just gray wolves) from outside the state The group noted that, among their other policy concerns, the initiative wouldn't go into effect quickly enough to have a real impact on the ongoing reintroduction. Prop. 114, which initiated the program in , calls for a minimum of 50 wolves to be brought back into the state. CPW has already released 25 gray wolves so far, with more releases slated for the upcoming winter. 'It is our opinion that the state will achieve its desired reintroduction objectives prior to the proposed timeline in the initiative,' the letter reads. The sportsmen's group also said that with wolves already on the landscape, it would rather focus on 'proactive efforts' and policy changes that could make it easier for ranchers and sportsmen to coexist with the predators. 'As we continue to seek proactive engagement opportunities and efforts to advance science-based wildlife management in alternative ways, we are concerned that pursuing Initiative 35 will result in diverting community sweat equity and limited financial resources toward an endeavor that promises little return on investment at a time when aggressive, proactive policy and measure that address future conditions are needed.' Read Next: The Return of Wolves to Colorado Will Change Elk Hunting There. Here's How The group says it is similarly opposed to Initiative 13, which also calls for an end to wolf reintroduction by the end of 2026, but does not include the other policy changes that were included in Initiative 35. Patricks Davis, campaign manager for CASWP, told Colorado Politics Wednesday that his group stands behind Initiative 13 and has already begun the process of collecting signatures.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
This initiative would end Colorado's wolf releases. Many rancher groups don't support it.
First, there was a citizen initiative to reintroduce wolves into Colorado that narrowly passed. Then there were two new proposed citizen initiatives to repeal wolf reintroduction. Now there is one. Got all of that? Confused? Let's start here. Proposition 114 was passed by voters 51% to 49% in 2020 to reintroduce wolves. The new measure is Ballot Initiative 13, which calls for repealing what voters approved in 2020 by putting an end to the reintroduction effort. But wait, there's more. It gets more perplexing when you consider the initiative to end wolf reintroduction resulted in strange bedfellows: Many Western Slope ranchers and wolf advocates are both in opposition of Ballot Initiative 13. Ballot Initiative 13 is proposed by the group Colorado Advocates for Smart Wolf Policy. The initiative simply reads: "Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statues ending any further reintroductions of gray wolves by December 31, 2026?" In an April 17 email, Colorado Advocates for Smart Wolf Policy said it will immediately start collecting signatures to secure the initiative on the November 2026 ballot. The group has until Aug. 27 to secure around 125,000 valid signatures to get the initiative on the November 2026 ballot. The same group filed another citizen initiative, 35, that was challenged on the basis it violated the single topic requirement of proposed citizen initiatives. The State Title Board sided with the challenge and terminated the initiative April 16. The failed initiative called for ending wolf reintroduction by Dec. 31, 2026, as well as removing "nongame" from the definition of wolf, adding livestock guard and herding animals as livestock for the purposes of compensation for losses caused by a wolf and prohibiting the importation of wolves into Colorado. Stan Vanderwerf, one of two designated representatives of proposed Ballot Initiative 13, said the measure is needed to establish a law that definitively ends wolf reintroduction at a certain point. The state wolf recovery plan calls for the reintroduction of 10 to 15 wolves over three to four years with the goal of having an established, sustained minimum population of 150 to 200 wolves. Colorado Parks and Wildlife released 10 wolves captured in Oregon in Grand and Summit counties in December of 2023 and released 15 wolves captured in British Columbia in Eagle and Pitkin counties in January. Three of the Oregon wolves have died and two of the British Columbia wolves have died. Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it is monitoring 26 wolves, including members of the former North Park pack and the Copper Creek pack, which includes five grown pups. The agency has confirmed at least two other uncollared wolves in the state. Vanderwerf said the state's recovery plan doesn't include a definitive end date and can be changed at any time. He added that wolf advocates aligned with Gov. Jared Polis could press for wolf reintroductions to continue past the deadline his initiative defines if wolves migrate out of Colorado, some die in the state and others continue to be killed after wandering into Wyoming. "There is a risk relying on the management plan," Vanderwerf told the Coloradoan. Vanderwerf pointed out the need for the initiative given the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission in January rejected a petition from 26 livestock groups to pause the reintroduction of wolves until Colorado Parks and Wildlife had fully implemented programs to reduce wolf-livestock conflicts. "Had the commission put a pause on reintroduction, we wouldn't be having this discussion," Vanderwerf said. "We can't rely on the commission or state legislature to stop reintroduction. This measure with the force of law absolutely puts a stop to wolf reintroduction." Opposition of proposed Ballot Initiative 13 by a coalition of ranchers, hunting advocates and western county commissions and wolf advocates is an alignment unheard of in the state. That coalition includes the Colorado Cattlemen's Association, various stockgrowers associations, commissioners from Western Slope counties and organizations representing business interests on the Western Slope. Reasons for their opposition center on concerns the measure will fail and create a political and social backlash and undermine current processes working to address wolf-livestock conflicts. The coalition also believes the genie is out of the bottle since two wolf releases have taken place and at least one more round of releases will likely occur before the vote on the initiative, if it secures enough signatures to be placed on the November 2026 ballot. There also has been concern among the coalition that Colorado Advocates for Smart Wolf Policy supporters did not adequately reach out to them for their thoughts concerning the initiatives, something Vanderwerf said is not totally accurate. Merrit Linke is a Grand County rancher, county commissioner and member of the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association, the latter two of which are among the coalition groups opposing the initiative. "I see value in shutting off reintroductions by the end of 2026, but in the meantime we have bigger problems on the ground that need the resources to address now, so I'm not sure the ballot measure does us any good," Linke told the Coloradoan, noting he was speaking on behalf of himself and not the coalition. He said a footnote to the state budget that includes threatening further state general fund revenue for the wolf program if wolf-livestock conflicts are not appropriately addressed and a federal bill to delist wolves might be more effective than the initiative. "Those have bigger teeth than the ballot measure," Linke said. Rob Edward is president and co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, which spearheaded the successful passage of Proposition 114. Edward said he sees the initiative to end wolf reintroduction as a waste of time and money. "This is pernicious on its face," Edward told the Coloradoan. "Let's get on with actually doing what Proposition 114 was passed to do and that is to recover wolves and help bring back the complement of native carnivores." This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado ranchers, wolf advocates both oppose Ballot Initiative 13
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wolf spotted in Montrose County, hear reaction to reintroduction program
MONTROSE, Colo. (KREX) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) captured wolves from British Columbia, Canada and Oregon, in partnership with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to reintroduce wolves to the Colorado ecosystem after they were eradicated in the mid-1940s. 'As far as the wolf reintroduction, I think it's the most ignorant thing I've heard of,' said Montrose County resident Vicki Benson. 'They kidnapped them. They took them from their territory, they took them from their families and moved then to a place where they have no idea where they are. Now, they're trying to get home and everybody's having a fit because they saw one in Montrose County, well… big deal. The thing's heading home.' Stella Strand, another Montrose County resident in disagreement with Proposition 114, says taking wolves from Oregon to Colorado is wrong. 'Taking them out of their natural habitat and then bringing them to another place that they're not familiar with. I think that's just cruel to them.' Telluride resident Chris Bonebrake agrees with the reintroduction and welcomes them back into the ecosystem. 'Absolutely. Absolutely, I believe that they are part of the ecosystem. I'd like to hear from some biologists about how they do, in fact, help the ecosystem.' CPW tracks wolf movement using radio collars to confirm the wolf sighting in Montrose. CPW states the animal made movements from the northern part of Gunnison County into the southern part before spotted in Montrose.' CPW says large movements are expected as the wolves explore their new surroundings. In an emailed statement to our newsroom, CPW states that 'field staff are in ongoing communication with local agriculture producers, local government officials and law enforcement partners regarding the presence of wolves in their areas.' 'And will continue to collaborate on ways to minimize the risk of depredation.' Click here for an activity map of the wolves location. It is published on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Click here for the CPW wolf sighting form. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State relocates over a dozen wolves through controversial capture-and-release method: 'Do not kill'
The Eagle and Pitkin counties in Colorado now count 15 more wolves, following a successful capture-and-release operation. State wildlife officials have released 15 wolves from Canada over the last week in what science news site says is the second round of a "historic, voter-mandated" reintroduction of the predator. Captured by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) biologists in British Columbia and Copper Creek, the wolves — including a mother and her pups — were released in the central mountains of Colorado, bringing the state's total known wild wolf population to 29. An agency statement read, "There are no concerns about reintroducing wolves that are from packs that are involved in situations of repeated livestock depredations." This is the second of three to five wolf release seasons, and no further release is planned this year. "Colorado's arms are open to these pioneering and resilient wolves," Courtney Vail, the chair of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project board, said in a statement. "Colorado's endeavor is historic because it is state-led and reflects the will of our citizens." In late 2020, Colorado voters approved Proposition 114, mandating CPW to develop a plan to reintroduce and manage gray wolves in the state, west of the continental divide, by the end of 2023. The proposition was passed with a narrow margin. On its website, CPW also mentions that the safety of its staff had been threatened, and that two of the 10 wolves reintroduced in 2023 had been illegally shot. "The gray wolf in Colorado is protected by the federal Endangered Species Act and state law. Penalties for illegal take can vary and include fines up to $100,000, jail time and loss of hunting privileges," the agency says. While efforts by ranching organizations to stop the reintroduction have so far failed, "opponents … earlier this month launched a ballot initiative that, if organizers collect enough signatures, would ask voters in 2026 to stop the program," reported. Do you think more places of worship should embrace clean energy? Yes — it sets a positive example Only if it saves money No opinion Absolutely not Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. For too long, the wolf has been seen as a predator to eliminate. According to Defenders of Wildlife, people hunted wolves to near-extinction in 48 states. Since 2022, the gray wolf has been protected under the Endangered Species Act in most U.S. states. In reality, they help balance natural ecosystems by keeping deer and elk populations healthy, for instance, as they usually choose older or sick individuals as prey, which in turn can benefit other plant and animal species. And where ecosystems thrive, we thrive. But because few people know that, online users did not welcome the news warmly. Some expressed concerns for themselves, while others were worried about the newly free wolves. "Why aren't they releasing wolves in Denver and Boulder counties? They made this happen, they should live with it," one Facebook user commented. "How about an open season on wolf poachers?" another added. "Don't shoot, poison or trap these wolves," one more user warned. "Be kind and respect Denver's eco-choice to save the animals … Respect the authorities ... Do not kill the wolves." Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Colorado senator says divide between wolf advocates and ranchers has 'never been greater'
State Democratic Sen. Dylan Roberts didn't hold back when each panelist at the outset of Colorado Public Radio's panel discussion in Loveland was asked what is and isn't working with Colorado wolf restoration. Roberts, whose district covers much of western Colorado where wolves have been reintroduced the last two years, said what's worked is there are 29 wolves in Colorado. His what's-not-working answer made it painfully obvious why continued struggles lie ahead for the reintroduction of wolves made possible by the passage of Proposition 114 in 2020. "What's not working is at the expense of doing that (releasing wolves) so quickly, the divide between the people who support wolf reintroduction and the folks living with the impacts has never been greater, and there has been so much animosity because of that rushed process," he told the public audience Feb. 6 at the Rialto Theatre. Panelists at the lively and candid event in addition to Roberts included Western Slope rancher Lenny Klinglesmith; two wolf advocates in CU professor Joanna Lambert and Rocky Mountain Wolf Project board member Courtney Vail; and Eric Odell, Colorado Parks and Wildlife wolf conservation program manager. You can listen to the entire panel discussion on a variety of topics on the Colorado Public Radio website. Vail countered Roberts' assessment by pointing out the collaboration that is taking place on the ground between wolf advocates, ranchers and CPW, a message she said hasn't been accurately portrayed in the media and public narrative. She said that "intense focus" on negative messaging is what is not working. "We have created a wolf crisis when in fact there are a lot of good stories in Colorado coming out hopefully in the future as we continue to talk about these things," she said. "Collaboration is working and I think the media needs to do a little better job of talking about the good stories of what is working for producers and for wolf advocates in Colorado. Those stories aren't making it into the media." Odell said CPW has done a good job capturing and transporting wolves while keeping human and animal safety front and center. He said the agency is working on what it can do better. "We are developing ways to coexist, to mitigate and minimize some of that challenge with some of those range riders and site assessments," he said. "We are a lot further down the road than we were last year, and there's still a lot of room for improvement." Klinglesmith credited Rocky Mountain Wolf Project and Vail for raising nearly $700,000 through its Born to be Wild specialty license plate sales, which will be used mainly to fund the $500,000 expected cost to employ 12 range riders this year, as well as other nonlethal tools for ranchers. He said despite those efforts, plus state and federal funding, it will take more money to fund costly nonlethal tools to continue to keep an increasing number of wolves from conflicts with livestock. "Those funds are already gone," he said. "I went to apply for a grant and they are taking no more applications. Federal money through the Western Landowners Alliance — they expected five to 10 applications and last I heard they had 50 to 60 applications. It's not going to go far enough." Roberts said CPW's work leading up to the latest wolf releases was better than the first round but that it was "a low bar" to improve. He said CPW's secrecy during the state's first wolf releases in December of 2023 in Grand and Summit counties was "offensive" to the people he represents. "There are a lot of wolf advocates in here (the Rialto Theatre) and I want you to put yourself in the position being one of those people in Grand County (where) this is your livelihood, dedicated your life to; this is what your family has grown up doing and you want your kids to do," Roberts said. "And there are predators being released right now next to you with absolutely no warning and with a lot of the mitigation tools not being in place yet because it was all rushed to meet this artificial deadline at the end of 2023." There was lively discussion about the legitimacy of wildlife measures being voted upon through ballot initiatives, often referred to as "ballot box biology." Colorado was the first state where voters approved reintroducing wolves. In the past, reintroduction has been done by the federal government. The 2020 measure narrowly passed, 51% to 49%, further widening the state's urban-rural divide. Thirteen of 64 counties voted in favor of the measure, including eight on the Front Range — Denver, Boulder Larimer, Adams, Broomfield, Jefferson, Arapahoe and El Paso — along with West Slope counties — La Plata, Pitkin, San Juan, San Miguel and Summit. "If you look at how the vote shook out, there was a concentration in a few counties of overwhelming support," Vail said. "But if you look at every county, there was support for wolves. It's a matter of degree. It's inaccurate to say that it was only Front Range that wanted wolves in Colorado." Lambert said the vote wasn't ballot box biology. "It was founded on decades of impeccable science that was coming out of Yellowstone and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, from reintroductions throughout different parts of the United State and from around the world," Vail said. "It wasn't about ballot box biology but about do the citizens agree that it is or is not important to work towards the recovery of an endangered species policy." Roberts "vehemently disagree(d)" that reintroduction of a predator should happen through a popular vote. He said Colorado is one of the easiest states to get ballot measures on the ballot but said unlike Proposition 114, most ballot measures voted on impact the entire state. "Legalization of marijuana, universal preschool, those touch all four corners of the state and voters get to weigh in," Roberts said. "Many people voted in favor of (Proposition) 114 that will never think about it ever again; will never be impacted by it in their entire lives. But the people who have to deal with the consequences have to deal with it daily." He added the reason Proposition 114 went to a ballot initiative is wolf advocates failed to convince previous Colorado Parks and Wildlife commission members and the state wildlife agency of its merits. He said legislators were working on putting parameters on the reintroduction before wolves were released but were thwarted. "They didn't trust the science, didn't trust the biologists; they just went straight to the voters with a lot of money frankly and got their ballot measure passed," Roberts said. Vail said wildlife commissioners and legislators aren't biologists and wildlife experts and wolf advocates were allowed to do what they did through the democratic process. "We are doing ballot box all the time to shape our worlds the way we want to see it," Vail said. "I feel fully comfortable with that process and it's an evolution and in time we will find out if it's successful or not and it's up to us to determine if it is or not." Klinglesmith said it "blew my mind" when Odell said during a state wolf stakeholders group meeting that wolves could double their population every other year. He said the reintroduction measure wasn't necessary and now that it's passed, the state should move slower in releasing more wolves to the state. "There is a lot of bitterness, animosity on the Western Slope that felt an unaffected majority imposed a harmful thing on an affected minority," he said. Wolf advocates pushed the ecological value of wolves leading up to the Proposition 114 vote and more recently, including wolves' importance in rebalancing Colorado ecology, a trophic cascade, and the predator's ability to help reduce chronic wasting disease in deer and elk in Colorado. Trophic cascade refers to how the addition or removal of apex predators at the top of the food chain affects animals and plants further down the chain, which in turn impacts the entire ecosystem. That idea became widely popular in 2014 when the short film "How Wolves Change Rivers" was released claiming wolves were largely responsible for the recovery of wetlands and willows in Yellowstone National Park by reducing elk browsing. The findings of a 20-year CSU study released last year vastly downplayed the significance of wolves' restorative impact in the national park while revealing the restoration of apex predators, including wolves, to Yellowstone after a long absence failed to reverse the effects of their removal from the ecosystem. The study also pointed out that doesn't mean wolves shouldn't be reintroduced into areas such as was done in Colorado. Lambert acknowledged the video was a "Disney version" of the trophic cascade story but said it did a lot of good work in terms of messaging the significance of predators in food webs on landscapes. "The critique that I would make of that is nothing in the natural world is that simple," Lambert said. Lambert added the ecological impact of wolves in Colorado is likely not going to result in a trophic cascade. "The idea now that rivers are going to transform and that there is going to be less erosion and more beaver and all of those elements that have been depicted … we are looking right now at 29 wolves across an enormous landscape of western Colorado with 22 million acres of public land compared to 2.2 million acres in Yellowstone," she said. "The scale is completely different so to expect some kind of extraordinary shift ecologically is just not realistic." As of April 2022, chronic wasting disease has been detected in 40 of Colorado's 54 mule and white-tailed deer herds, 17 of 42 elk herds and two of nine moose herds, according to CPW. Vail said wolves will help reduce the spread of chronic wasting disease in the state, which will help ranchers and outfitters who benefit from the state's lucrative deer and elk hunting seasons. "What wasn't mentioned about the economic value of wolves is they are really helping the state combat CWD," Vail said. "They sniff out diseased animals and we've eliminated that component of that food web that will help us regulate that." Odell disagreed with Vail's value of wolves' impact on CWD, saying the fatal disease of deer, elk and moose is endemic and well-established in Colorado and that wolves will likely not have any impact on the disease. "Will wolves solve the CWD problem in Colorado? Probably not," Odell said. "Bringing in another predator that might be able to cue in might help to some degree. That said there are areas where wolves have been present for quite a while and CWD is gaining a foothold despite the fact there are wolves on the ground." Klingelsmith said he understands the intrinsic value some put on wolves but said he doesn't see the benefit because for him, "I can't sleep at night, I can't go to my daughter's rodeos and not wonder what is getting killed (back at the ranch)." Klinglesmith believes ranchers can live with wolves in Colorado to a degree but that the predator needs to be managed, including by lethal means. He added there is a "misconception that ranchers are wolf haters" that lingers since wolves were largely killed off in Colorado and elsewhere by ranchers and the federal government decades ago. "There is this misconception out there that we are still the ranchers of the Great Depression," Klinglesmith said. "During the Great Depression is when the poison was released and the government decided to declare federal war on predators because people were starving and predators were competition for food. "We're not there anymore. We manage forage and land and our product is grass and browse we market through cattle, sheep, elk and deer and that revenue source is what keeps that space open, keeps houses and development off of it. That needs protected." This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado wolf advocates' and ranchers' divide 'never been greater'
