by Mark Chesnut - Monday, August 25, 2025
The dismal saga that has resulted from the introduction of gray wolves into the mountains of Colorado proves one thing: Wildlife management is best left to trained experts in the field.
As some background, after voters narrowly approved the introduction of wolves on a ballot initiative in 2020, 10 wolves from Oregon were released in Grand and Summit counties in the northern area of the state. In January 2025, a second group of 15 wolves from British Columbia was released in Eagle and Pitkin counties. The National Rifle Association and other hunting and wildlife conservation organizations warned that there could be unintended consequences, but since voters approved the ballot initiative, state wildlife managers were forced to go along with the plan.
Since then, the wolves have been nothing but trouble. Predation by the packs on deer and elk caused big-game populations to suffer in the release areas. However, an even bigger problem occurred when some wolves discovered it was much easier to eat cows and sheep on ranches in the area.
Within months of the first release, officials were already setting up traps to capture and relocate the animals—along with their three new pups—due to rampant livestock predation. In fact, depredation problems were so bad that the budget to reimburse ranchers for wolf-killed livestock didn’t go very far.
In the first year after the introduction, ranchers in Grand County, Colo., presented Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) with a $582,000 bill for wolf kills and the associated impacts on cattle and sheep. In 2024, lawmakers allocated $350,000 in 2024 for its Wolf Depredation Compensation Fund—twice the amount of the previous year.
However, as this NRA hunting news website reported, that amount still didn’t suffice. On March 5, the CPW Commission agreed to pay Farrell Livestock $287,407, which includes compensation for 15 cows killed by wolves in the spring of 2024. At the same meeting, the CPW commissioners also unanimously approved wolf depredation claims from Bruches and Sons totaling $56,008. With the Farrell payment included, that brought the total to $343,415—leaving just $6,585 remaining in the depredation compensation fund after only two claims.
Since then, things have gotten worse. In March, one of the wolves relocated from British Columbia just two months earlier crossed into Wyoming and killed five sheep there. Wildlife officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture killed the wolf to decrease the chance of future livestock kills in the Cowboy State.
Of course, while it is no surprise that some wolves are choosing to take the easy route and eat livestock instead of big game, Colorado wildlife officials are scrambling for answers. In fact, at a recent CPW Commission meeting, there was even a discussion about the possibility of feeding road kill to “problem” wolves in an attempt to keep them from preying on livestock.
Then, in late May, Colorado wildlife officials killed a wolf in Pitkin County, marking the first time the state had resorted to lethal removal since it began the wolf releases. The decision came after nearby ranchers reported several wolf attacks in May that killed two calves and wounded four other cattle.
CPW Director Jeff Davis said an investigation by his agency confirmed that wolves were behind four livestock attacks at ranches near Aspen between May 17 and May 25.
“The decision to take lethal management action was very difficult,” Davis said in a released statement. “This action will help ensure that wolves and packs that are targeting natural prey serve as the foundation for a sustainable population.”
In late July, media reports began circulating that Colorado wildlife officials were planning to kill another wolf because of livestock attacks. According to a statement from the agency, CPW staff were in Pitkin County working to locate and kill a second member of the Copper Creek pack following another livestock attack in the area. Since March, that pack has been connected to seven confirmed livestock attacks in Pitkin County, the most recent on July 18.
Remarkably, animal rights groups, which helped push the 2020 ballot initiative over the top by a slim 50.3 percent to 49.7 percent margin, could not care less about being friends of animals classified as livestock. On July 31, Friends of Animals issued a news release calling for the state agency to not kill any more wolves.
The group encouraged its members to call Gov. Jared Polis’s office and “demand a full suspension of the killing and immediate prioritization of nonlethal, nonviolent coexistence. These wolves belong to Colorado’s wild landscapes—not on any kill list.”
On July 24, another Colorado wolf died in Wyoming, likely shot due to livestock depredation. Ironically, Wyoming state law prevents other details about the wolf’s death from being shared, so it’s impossible to know exactly what occurred.
All of the employee time and effort necessary to handle the myriad problems caused by the wolves have caused wildlife managers to focus heavily on wolf issues and ignore other wildlife species. Additionally, dealing with the wolves is breaking the bank. While the program was initially touted to cost about $800,000 a year, it has nearly quadrupled to more than $3 million in fiscal year 2024-2025.
As of last week, the state’s $1 billion budget shortfall had some Colorado lawmakers trying to pause further wolf reintroductions for one year. With more wolves scheduled to be released in December, state legislators were aiming to help stop the bleeding while hoping to divert some funding to address other needs, such as lowering Colorado residents’ health care costs.
“This backdoor effort to prevent the will of the voters to establish a self-sustaining wolf population in Colorado from being implemented won’t save money,” said Shelby Wieman, a spokesperson for Gov. Polis. “It just moves a small amount of money for wolf reintroduction to an unrelated issue without decreasing the deficit by one penny and is against the will of the voters—and the unanimously approved Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan.”
Ultimately, the entire Colorado wolf saga represents a giant headache for Colorado wildlife managers, who doubtless wish the program had never been approved by voters. We can hope voters in states that might consider such ballot-box biology in the future will look at the Colorado wolf dilemma and give it some good thought before casting their votes.
About the Author
Freelance writer and editor Mark Chesnut is the owner/editorial director at Red Setter Communications LLC in Jenks, Okla. An avid hunter, shooter and field-trialer, he has been covering Second Amendment issues and politics on a near-daily basis for over 25 years.
Photo by Tim Christie; timchristiephoto.com