In the last decade, Colorado grew at twice the national rate. Still, as the reintroduction is set to begin, there are lingering questions over whether that population boom may ultimately threaten wolves' ability to thrive.įew western states have been more romanticized in popular culture for their beauty and open spaces than Colorado.īut back in the 1970s when Johnny Cash was singing about the wild Colorado River or John Denver hit those Rocky Mountain highs, the state's population was barely two million people. Political analysts largely attribute the yes vote in Colorado to its booming urban population that helped flip the state from red to blue in recent elections. This is also seen as historic because the reintroduction is mandated by voters.Įarlier efforts in states from North Carolina to Wyoming were done by the federal government. "We wanted to make sure this was, from the get go, done with the citizens of Colorado and not done to the citizens of Colorado." "We know that wolves will do well here," says Reid DeWalt, an assistant director with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. If all goes as planned, state wildlife officials, under the new law, will begin the reintroduction effort by New Year's Eve. This citizen group ultimately hammered out a proposal, helping write a management plan that's widely seen as a compromise. There were also outfitters and ranchers who overwhelmingly didn't support reintroducing them. They also convened a large stakeholder group compromised of people with polar opposite views on wolves, including rural county leaders and environmentalists. Since then, state wildlife officials have been holding public forums. In 2020, voters in the state passed Proposition 114, requiring wolves to be reintroduced within three years. Carbondale, COLO - Packs of gray wolves will soon roam again through the Colorado Rockies as state wildlife managers race to meet a year-end deadline to begin reintroducing the wild canines that were eradicated by humans here in the 1940s.
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