On The Prowl: Gray Wolf Reintroduction On The West Slope

The wolves are coming home.

Canines with thick, grayish brown coats and long bushy tails have become one of the most heated conservation issues of the West. According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, gray wolves have been an extirpated species since the 1940s. Last November, Coloradans narrowly approved a measure to reintroduce the largest living wild canine species onto the West Slope, marking it as the first state in the nation to reintroduce an animal species by the ballot. Now almost a year later, locals are wondering how the proposition, set to launch by the end of 2023, will unfold when opposing interests are at stake.

VOICES FROM THE WEST

“Wolves being reintroduced only on the Western Slope is very concerning to our agricultural economy, tourism economy and to our outdoor recreation economy as well,” says Representative Matthew Soper, who opposed Proposition 114. “Humans and wolves definitely are competing for the same game.”

While the entire state voted on the initiative, Soper says West Slope residents are the ones who will be bearing the cost. The highest concentration of supporting votes came from populous Front Range counties that many believe are distant from realities out in the country.

Ranchers and farmers fear gray wolves will decimate their livestock; hunters fear wolves will shift elk and deer populations; some simply fear for their safety against the apex predator. While Proposition 114 promises to compensate farmers for any livestock lost due to wolves, many have declared it’s not enough.

Soper introduced a bill of his own to help mitigate the divide on the issue. He hoped to have counties that voted majority yes on reintroduction to welcome the wolves first. While animals don’t recognize county boundaries, the thought was to give the wolves a better fighting chance early on rather than placing them in counties that will work against them. Soper’s bill was struck down, but he said the goal was to start a conversation.

WILDLIFE STEWARDSHIP

Colorado has over 24 million acres of public land. According to a 2017 study published in Biological Conservation, Western Colorado is prime habitat for wolf restoration.

“From an ecological perspective, from my perspective working on the ground as an ecologist for the past 30 years on Colorado’s West Slope, Colorado needs wolves. Wolves need Colorado,” says Delia Malone, wildlife committee chair at the Sierra Club’s Colorado chapter. “All the things we as humans depend on for our very life, wolves help restore.”

Malone believes if wolves are given the chance, they will begin to restore natural biological diversity and improve ecosystem health in the environments in which they’re reintroduced. She says predation is one of the most powerful and important natural processes.

“This domination view of wildlife is an old-school view where wildlife and the land are there for human use,” Malone explains. “There is another cultural shift in Colorado and in a few other places where we look at a mutualistic view — where we live together with wildlife. Wildlife is essential for us and for our success. We need wildlife for more than just eating it and killing it. We have a mutually beneficial relationship … Our fate as a human culture, in this view, is intimately hooked with the fate of wildlife.”

In fact, she says the long-term effects of reintroduction would actually help big game hunters. As shared by the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, there is a documented rise in elk populations across Montana, Idaho and Wyoming where wolves were reintroduced over a quarter century ago. Additionally, ecologists report wolves commonly prey on old and weak animals that might have otherwise died from starvation or disease.

Further, while risks should not be ignored, the Center for Human-Carnivore Coexistence at Colorado State University (CSU) concluded that the available data suggests mortality caused by wolves is a small economic cost to the livestock industry as a whole.

“In places like Montana and Idaho, livestock losses are pretty small,” says Joel Berger, wildlife ecologist at CSU. “But that’s easy for me to say. If I were the rancher, it’d be a significant loss to me and it would have impacts on me, my family and more directly on the local community that cares about me.”

Wolves in the Northern Rockies are already experiencing resistance with legislation in Montana and Idaho legalizing the hunting of wolves, undermining existing conservation efforts. Representative Soper says Colorado could also run the risk of individuals trapping or shooting wolves and hampering with reintroduction efforts, even if it’s prohibited to do so.

But, Western Colorado is not Yellowstone or the Great Lakes or any other region that has reintroduced wolves — it has the unique opportunity to coexist with the hounds in harmony if it chooses to.

“In the many cases where we’ve lost species, I believe we have an obligation to restoration to the extent possible, and that would be concordant with my views on wolves,” Berger says.

With gray wolf reintroduction on the horizon, utilizing coexistence strategies — like guard dogs or range riders — are key to a successful transition on both sides, he shares.

FUNDAMENTAL VALUES

The topic of wolves is controversial and creates conflict among ranchers, hunters, environmentalists and other groups. But, the debate goes beyond the ballot. It’s a longstanding discussion over how public lands should be managed with different cultural and social values at stake.

The Center for Human-Carnivore Coexistence recommends prioritizing empathy and building trust between groups of various perspectives. Doing so would develop more collaborative solutions that can be more widely accepted by the public.

Wolves are more similar to us than we think. They too are social beings that thrive in packs. They even often mate for life. While a lone wolf or two has been spotted in northern Colorado over the years, it’s not enough to sustain an endangered population. The power is in numbers. It’s no secret the power humans hold over their environments, but true collaboration and healing is possible only through united teamwork, together as a pack.

Originally published in the Fall 2021 issue of Spoke+Blossom