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Trump administration is telling colorado stop importing gray wolves Canada As part of the state’s efforts to restore the predators, a change that could hamper plans for more reintroductions this winter.
The state is releasing wolves west of the Continental Divide beginning in 2023 after Colorado voters approved wolf reintroduction in 2020. About 30 wolves now roam the state’s mountainous regions and its management plan envisions potentially 200 or more wolves in the long term.
The program has been unpopular in rural areas, where some wolves have attacked livestock. Now, after two winter releases during President Joe Biden’s administration, wolf opponents have received support from federal officials under President donald trump,
Colorado wolves must come from northern of rocks states Brian Nesvik, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis in a recent letter posted by the Fence Post agricultural news publication.
Most of those states – including those in the Yellowstone area idahoMontana and Wyoming, where wolves were reintroduced from Canada in the 1990s — have said they do not want to be part of Colorado’s reintroduction.
Due to this, Colorado may face difficulties this winter. Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Luke Perkins said in a statement Friday that the state plans to relocate 10 to 15 wolves under an agreement with British Columbia’s Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Management.
According to Perkins, the agreement was signed before the state received the October 10 letter from Nesvik. He said the state “continues to evaluate all options to support this year’s gray wolf release” after receiving “recent guidance” from the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Although some of Colorado’s reintroduced wolves come from Oregon, most recently released wolves come from British Columbia.
The issue now is whether the federal agency required that wolves come only from the North American Rocky Mountain states when it designated Colorado’s “experimental” population of reintroduced wolves.
A federal notice announcing the designation in 2023 describes the Northern Rockies area only as a “preferred” and not essential source of wolves.
Defenders of Wildlife attorney Lisa Saltzberg said in a statement that the Fish and Wildlife Service is “twisting the language” by saying wolves cannot come from Canada or Alaska.
People in Colorado “should be proud of our state’s leadership in conservation and coexistence, and the wolf reintroduction program reflects those values,” Saltzberg said.
The Colorado governor’s office and Colorado Parks and Wildlife are in contact with the Interior Department about the letter and are evaluating “all options” for allowing the release of wolves this year, Shelby Wyman, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jared Polis, said by email.
Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Garrett Peterson, whose voicemail said he would not be available until the government shutdown ends, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.