The Copper Creek Pack, which consists of a breeding pair and three pups, have been the main source of depredation issues in Grand County.
Colorado’s only wolfpack will be captured and moved following the death of 24 cattle and sheep by reintroduced wolves since April, Colorado Parks & Wildlife announced on Tuesday night.
The Copper Creek Pack, which consists of a breeding pair and three pups, is the main source of “issues with depredation” in Middle Park in Grand County, though other wolves have killed livestock as well since being reintroduced in December.
In a media statement sent Tuesday night, CPW Director Jeff Davis said the agency’s options were limited in this case, and this shouldn’t be seen as setting a precedent for how wolves that kill livestock will be managed in the future.
”Our options in this unique case were very limited, and this action is by no means a precedent for how CPW will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward,” Davis said in the statement. “The ultimate goal of the operation is to relocate the pack to another location while we assess our best options for them to continue to contribute to the successful restoration of wolves in Colorado.”
The statement says CPW would not be sharing the location of pack members or the operation, “for the safety of these animals and staff.”
CPW’s decision to capture and relocate these wolves comes after Reid DeWalt, the agency’s Assistant Director of Aquatic, Terrestrial and Natural Resources, told the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Commission last week that the Copper Creek Pack is causing most of the issues with livestock depredation.
“As they become accustomed to their new environment, they are doing what wolves do and what we thought they would do,” DeWalt said. “We have had a few depredations with other wolves, but nothing to the level we have seen in Middle Park.”
In May, the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association applied for a permit to kill animals they believe are connected to livestock deaths, but that was denied by CPW last month. The agency, which has the authority to kill chronically depredating wolves as part of the state’s voter mandated reintroduction plan, has repeatedly resisted killing any wolves since they were released in December. DeWalt said there are 11 confirmed wolves in the state, with three of those being a trio of pups born this year.
The tensions has caused strain for on the ground CPW employees, as more of their time is spent investigating wolf-related incidents and as ranchers opt to close their properties to state officers, according to reporting earlier this month from the Vail Daily.
In a letter to Davis and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis earlier this month, the Colorado Cattleman’s Association and the Routt County, Middle Park and North Park Stockgrowers Association, said the state's refusal to allow depredating wolves to be killed “signals to the ranching community that their concerns are secondary.”
“CPW’s Decision to deny the permit — despite documented and increasingly common depredations — highlights a troubling trend of prioritizing wolves over the legitimate needs and rights of livestock producers,” the letter reads.
Of the 24 livestock deaths since April, 15 have been cattle or calves, while another nine have involved sheep. Livestock producers wrote in their letter that these numbers do not include “missing” livestock.
CPW’s confirmed livestock depredations data shows that since April, 16 have been in Grand County, four in Routt County and four more in Jackson County. The most recent confirmed depredation came on July 28, with eight sheep in Grand County being involved, according to state records.
On Tuesday night, Tim Ritschard, President of the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association told the Fort Collins Coloradan that he was pleased with the agency’s decision to remove the wolves.
"If a wolf wanders in and kills a cow or calf, that's tolerable, "Ritschard told the Coloradoan. "When they set up camp and repeatedly depredate on livestock that's where the problem is.”
The news also comes after the agency confirmed that the next round of wolves that will be reintroduced this winter would again be released in the northern zone identified in the states wolve management plan. That zone includes parts of South Routt County. The first round of wolves were released on public land Summit and Grand counties.
“We really need to supplement the wolves we put out (in the northern zone) and look for opportunities to move through that zone,” DeWalt said.
Where those wolves will come from is still in the works however after the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington said they will not be sending wolves to the state as earlier promised. According to a letter from the tribes published by Steamboat Radio, Colville backed out dues to a lack of “meaningful and necessary consultation” with tribes in Colorado.
Wolves that were reintroduced last December were from Oregon. Steamboat Radio reports that Idaho, Montana and Wyoming have also refused to provides wolves as part of Colorado’s reintroduction.
“We continue to work with other locations that have wolves to secure a population of wolves for an upcoming release this winter,” DeWalt said. “We have a level of confidence that a new source will be found soon.”
Top Photo Caption: Colorado Parks and Wildlife released five gray wolves onto public land in Grand County, Colorado on Dec. 18, 2023. Pictured is wolf 2302-OR. (Colorado Parks & Wildlife/Courtesy)