GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) – The Mesa County Commissioners ratified a letter to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) on June 24.
The letter asks to pause further wolf reintroduction until some changes are made.
“Promises have been broken. Trust has been eroded, and we really need to get back to a really working partnership for rural Colorado,” said Bobbie Daniel, a Mesa County Commissioner.
Commissioners Daniel, JJ Fletcher, and Cody Davis joined over 25 other Western Colorado commissioners, organizations, and individuals. The letter writes, “We strongly urge the Commission to pause future wolf reintroductions until the core programs – communication, carcass disposal, depredation investigations, and compensation are fully implemented, functional, and demonstrably effective.”
The letter expresses a concern that notifications of wolf activity are sent out hours or days after CPW is aware of the activity. “That doesn’t do you much good,” said Daniel.
Wolf Advocates, such as Rob Edward, President of the
Rocky Mountain Wolf Project
, share their support for CPW.
“Colorado Parks and Wildlife has done an extremely good job of learning as they go and adapting to the realities on the ground,” said Edward.
Edward said challenges such as wolf depredation were expected to happen. Despite these challenges, he said CPW has worked as best they can with the situation, such as working with ranchers to prevent livestock depredation and compensate for any losses.
“They’ve been asked to do something that no other state wildlife management agency has had to do before, they’ve been told by the people of Colorado, you’ve got to reintroduce wolves and wolves are not, you know, trout,” said Edward.
The letter acknowledges the strong partnership:
“We still value the relationships we have built with local District and Area Wildlife Managers. These connections, formed over decades, reflect a shared respect between those who steward the land and those who manage the state’s wildlife and the shared understanding that both represent a symbiotic relationship.”
Commissioner Daniel said she respects the work being done by CPW but advocates for more transparency and collaboration as the effort continues.
“We really do respect and value what our partners are doing and we just want to make sure that we are continuing with that long-held respect and heritage of Western Colorado and let’s make it better, let’s make it work for everyone,” she said.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed to KKCO that they received the letter and it’s currently under review. However, they were unavailable to provide a comment.
