{"id":1316385,"date":"2019-11-03T10:00:37","date_gmt":"2019-11-03T17:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=990412"},"modified":"2019-11-04T10:56:07","modified_gmt":"2019-11-04T17:56:07","slug":"garfield-commissioners-may-stand-up-to-wolf-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/garfield-commissioners-may-stand-up-to-wolf-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Garfield commissioners may stand up to wolf issue"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
FILE – In this July 16, 2004, file photo, a gray wolf is seen at the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minn. The Republican-controlled House has passed a bill to drop legal protections for gray wolves across the lower 48 states, reopening a lengthy battle over the predator species. (AP Photo\/Dawn Villella, File)<\/strong>
AP | AP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Garfield County commissioners could soon take a position on a potential 2020 ballot measure to reintroduce wolves to the state.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the board of county commissioners will consider a resolution opposing any effort to bring wolves to Colorado.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Stop the Wolf Coalition<\/a> is asking counties across the state to take a stand against wolf reintroduction as ballot initiative effort is going on. Mesa and Moffat counties passed similar resolutions in 2018.<\/p>\n

The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project began collecting signatures to place Initiative 107 on<\/a> the November 2020 election ballot.<\/p>\n

The initiative would require the state to bring wolves into
\nthe Colorado Rocky Mountains by December 2023.<\/p>\n

Proponents of the initiative are still collecting signatures for the initiative. Bringing wolves to Colorado would fill an essential gap in the ecosystem, according to supporters.<\/p>\n

The resolution proposed to the commissioners takes a
\ndifferent stance.<\/p>\n

\u201cPredation by wolves of the wildlife and domestic livestock is a serious problem that Colorado should not invite, encourage or accept,\u201d the resolution<\/a> states.<\/p>\n

\u201c(In) addition to the negative economic social impacts of
\nwolf reintroduction, wolves pose a danger to the physical health of household
\npets and people due to predation and the transmission of diseases,\u201d the
\nresolution adds.<\/p>\n

Wolf reintroduction in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and parts of the Southwest has been so successful the Fish and Wildlife Service wants to remove the species from the list of endangered and threatened animals.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Department of Wildlife studied bringing wolves
\ninto the state more than a decade ago, and concluded wolf reintroduction was
\nnot necessary.<\/p>\n

The wolf introduction bill doesn\u2019t specify where wolves would be introduced, but it does designate lands \u201cwest of the continental divide.\u201d<\/p>\n

 Gray wolf introduction may cost the state and hunting organizations money, according to a fiscal analysis<\/a> of the measure.<\/p>\n

Elk, deer and moose would be likely prey for the wolves, potentially reducing the number of hunting licenses available.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, wolf introduction may boost other forms
\nof outdoor recreation, according to Legislative Council staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cConversely, the presence of gray wolves may have a positive
\neffect on the health of some ecosystems, which may promote participation in
\nnon-consumptive forms of outdoor recreation,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

Garfield County\u2019s resolution adds that any federal or state wolf management plan include funding to offset negative impacts on ranchers, hunters, and other aspects of the local economies.<\/p>\n

tphippen@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FILE – In this July 16, 2004, file photo, a gray wolf is seen at the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minn. The Republican-controlled House has passed a bill to drop legal protections for gray wolves across the lower 48 states, reopening a lengthy battle over the predator species. (AP Photo\/Dawn Villella, File)AP | […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1316385","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-30 13:15:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1316385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1316396,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316385\/revisions\/1316396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1316385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1316385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1316385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}