{"id":2450728,"date":"2019-11-04T22:56:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T05:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/garfield-co-commissioners-oppose-wolf-reintroduction\/"},"modified":"2019-11-04T22:56:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T05:56:00","slug":"garfield-co-commissioners-oppose-wolf-reintroduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/garfield-co-commissioners-oppose-wolf-reintroduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Garfield Co commissioners oppose wolf reintroduction"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE – In this May 20, 2019, file photo, a Mexican gray wolf is seen at the Endangered Wolf Center in Eureka, Mo. Dozens of environmental groups and scientists are asking U.S. wildlife managers to rethink how they plan to ensure the survival of Mexican gray wolves in the American Southwest. Following a loss in federal court, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working on crafting a new rule to guide management of the endangered predators in New Mexico and Arizona. (AP Photo\/Jeff Roberson, File)<\/strong>
AP | AP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Garfield County commissioners on Monday unanimously approved a resolution opposing reintroducing wolves to Colorado. But the county\u2019s resolution may not matter when voters head to the ballot box next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m amazed that people want to do something like this, because I don\u2019t think it would be good for anyone, in any way,\u201d Commissioner Mike Samson said of efforts to bring wolves into the state.<\/p>\n

But in fact, many people in Colorado want wolves here, according to one 2019 poll.<\/p>\n

Paid for by the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund, the poll showed that 67% of Coloradans support wolf introduction.<\/p>\n

With so many supporting wolves in Colorado, Rob Edward, founder and president of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund backing the initiative, says it\u2019s high time to get started.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is, we have so much information now about how important wolves are to the landscape, and we know we have the people behind us both on the Front Range and the Western Slope. It\u2019s time to get this done,\u201d Edward said.<\/p>\n

Edward is behind the effort of putting wolf introduction on the ballot for Colorado\u2019s November 2020 general election. The initiative requires creating plans and bringing wolves into Colorado by the end of 2023.<\/p>\n

Edward is confident that volunteers have collected enough signatures to put it on the ballot.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also convinced of broad support for wolf introduction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the Western Slope with us, it\u2019s just a matter of helping people understand the nuances of living with wolves,\u201d Edward said.<\/p>\n

On the Western Slope, where the wolves would be introduced if Initiative 107 passes, 61% of respondents favored wolf introduction, according to the poll.<\/p>\n

Those opposed to wolf reintroduction have a number of concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only do (wolves) kill the cattle, but they bother them, they chase them around and stir them up,\u201d and as a result, there are fewer cattle pregnancies, Garfield County rancher Frank Daley told the commissioners.<\/p>\n

Based on his experience with coyotes, Daley also worries that the cattle made anxious by wolves will break fences and injure calves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely don\u2019t need to add in another predator,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The impact on wildlife is another concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not want to have wolves reintroduced into the state of Colorado for many reasons, one of which is that it would be devastating for the moose, elk and deer populations of our state, not to mention domestic livestock such as cattle and sheep,\u201d Samson said.<\/p>\n

The effect of wolves on elk and deer where they have been reintroduced in isn\u2019t completely settled.<\/p>\n

Wolves appear to be a factor in declining elk herds in Yellowstone National Park, but elsewhere, like Montana, elk herds are increasing.<\/p>\n

In 2004, the Colorado Department of Wildlife, which has since been renamed Parks and Wildlife, commissioned the wolf working group, recommended managing wolves that came into the state, but tabled reintroduction efforts.<\/p>\n

Garfield County commissioners see their opposition as continuing that management plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wolves are kind of introducing themselves and they are getting into Colorado from Wyoming and the southern part from New Mexico,\u201d Jankovsky said.<\/p>\n

Two potential gray wolf sightings in 2019 are being investigated by state wildlife officials.<\/p>\n

According to Edward, who was a member of the wolf working group, going to the voters is appropriate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not circumventing the DOW or the Wildlife Commission. It very explicitly involves them. It simply says, \u2018The people want you to do this, so do it,\u2019\u201d Edward said.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FILE – In this May 20, 2019, file photo, a Mexican gray wolf is seen at the Endangered Wolf Center in Eureka, Mo. Dozens of environmental groups and scientists are asking U.S. wildlife managers to rethink how they plan to ensure the survival of Mexican gray wolves in the American Southwest. Following a loss in […]<\/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":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2450728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 09:18:05","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":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2450728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450728\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2450728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2450728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2450728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}