The transfer of 15 grey wolves from B.C. to western Colorado is in jeopardy after the new head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)—appointed under President Trump—issued an open letter telling Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to “immediately cease and desist” their plans to reintroduce more wolves.
As an endangered species in Colorado, CPW has been planning to reintroduce grey wolves to lands west of the Continental Divide going back to December 2023. In January of this year, a pack of 15 wolves were successfully transferred from B.C.’s interior to Colorado, aiding CPW in its mission to one day establish a permanent, self-sustaining grey wolf population.
In total, CPW plans to reintroduce 30 to 50 wolves over three to five planned releases. But the third release, which was planned for this winter, is on hold as the federal government challenges the validity of the agreement between CPW and B.C.
In an October 10 letter from Brian Nesvik, the director of the FWS, addressed to CPW’s director, Nesvik claims that the B.C.-Colorado agreement is in violation of a permit provided by the FWS that allowed for the reintroduction of wolves sourced only from Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and parts of Oregon, Washington, and Utah.
But according to a statement shared with the Aspen Times by Rachael Gonzales, CPW’s northwest region public information officer, the current partnership with B.C. was approved by the previous FWS director via a memorandum of understanding. For now, CPW is evaluating alternative options for the sourcing of wolves for the planned winter release.
“I hope Colorado figures it out,” says Jodi Hilty, the president and chief scientist at the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) Conservation Initiative. “It would be sad to have just 15 wolves—which isn’t enough to be viable all by themselves.”
According to Hilty, one reason Colorado was looking to beef up its grey wolf numbers was to keep local elk populations in check. “They have a very large population of elk, and they needed to find some way that they could manage that population,” she says. “What better way than using natural predator-prey processes?”
On B.C.’s end, Hilty says that the province has a healthy population of grey wolves that won’t suffer if 10-15 are moved to stateside once a year. On top of that, the agreement signed between Colorado and B.C. states that the province could receive up to $400,000 USD for the 15 wolves.
As for B.C.’s Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, they say they are taking a step back while the U.S. state and federal entities work things out. “We respect Colorado’s jurisdiction in this matter and will follow its lead once the next steps have been determined,” says the Ministry.
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