Resource Science: Wolves and Colorado
A ballot initiative to reintroduce wolves to Colorado, and agriculture groups’ opposition to it, are described in the Dec. 9, 2019 WLJ. Wolves are already established in several Western states, including Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, and there have been wolf sightings in Colorado, California and Utah.
Wolves often disperse long distances and establish new territories. Wolves from reintroduction of 67 animals to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995-1996 have dispersed and established populations in western Montana and Wyoming and large portions of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. A female wolf traveled more than 7,646 miles over several months in large areas of California and Nevada. It is possible that wolves from Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho will eventually find their way to Colorado and establish a population there without deliberate relocations of wolves.
A reintroduction of wolves in Colorado may be complicated by the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Wolves are not listed under the ESA in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, but they are in other states, including New Mexico and Arizona, and probably will be if they enter Colorado. ESA restrictions on taking wolves would greatly limit the management options available to the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife. Wolves are now hunted and trapped in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho without the restrictions of the ESA. This allows their impact on livestock and wildlife to be managed and mitigated.
You can see from the wolf population estimates from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (see the graphs) that wolf populations grew quickly after the reintroductions in 1995-1996. The numbers of wolves stabilized at around 800 in each state after hunting and trapping was instituted by the states in 2009, although factors other than hunting also affected wolf numbers.
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The numbers in the tables and graphs are estimates, not accurate censuses, so the actual numbers could be greater or less than those in the tables and figures. This is because it is very difficult to count wolves in forested mountains and other rough country. The population estimates have statistical ranges based on complex models. For example, the number in Montana in 2013 (1,088 wolves) could actually be from 870 to 1,343 wolves. The data in the tables and graphs are from reports accessible from the websites in the references.
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Three main points are evident from these data for Montana and Idaho.
• Wolves disperse and colonize new areas;
• Wolf populations can grow quickly; and
• Wolf populations can be managed with hunting/trapping and other methods.
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See reports in the references for details on wolf management in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and other states, including data on livestock depredation.
What you can do?
Whether you want no wolves, a few wolves, or many wolves in Colorado, it is probable that they will get there by their own movements or through environmentalists’ efforts. I think that a positive result can come from proactively insisting on state management before wolves are present and impacting livestock and wildlife. Suggest to government officials in your counties, the state of Colorado, the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Departments of the Interior and Agriculture that wolves will likely establish populations in Colorado by natural dispersal, and a deliberate reintroduction is unnecessary and opposed by many Colorado citizens.
The Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife does a good job managing big game and can do the same with wolves to minimize negative impacts on livestock and wildlife, if and when wolves establish populations in Colorado. — Dr. Matthew Cronin
(Matthew Cronin was a research professor at the University of Alaska and is now at Northwest Biology Company LLC and an affiliate professor at Montana State University. He can be reached at croninm@aol.com.)
References
Montana: http://fwp.mt.gov/fishAndWildlife/management/wolf/population.html, http://fwp.mt.gov/fwpDoc.html?id=92853
Idaho: https://idfg.idaho.gov/public/wildlife/wolves
Oregon: https://dfw.state.or.us/Wolves/population.asp
California: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=174775&inline
