Washington Indian tribe pulls out of agreement to provide wolves to Colorado

 

The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington said they are rescinding an earlier agreement to send 15 wolves to Colorado Parks and Wildlife later this year and in early 2025.

Cody Desautel, executive director of the Tribe, on July 30 told the Coloradoan it sent a letter to Colorado Parks and Wildlife informing the agency of its decision. That letter, sent to Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis was dated June 6.

"After hearing from Colorado tribes concerned about the (wolf) reintroduction, we halted the project out of respect for the sovereignty, culture, and impacts to membership of the Indian Tribes in Colorado," Desautel told the Coloradoan.

Desautel said the Colville Tribe received a letter from the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in Colorado asking it not to provide wolves to Colorado. Colorado's Southern Ute Indian Tribe land is located in southwestern Colorado along the New Mexico border.

The Southern Ute Tribe has publicly expressed concerns with the state's wolf reintroduction plan for the same reasons ranchers and hunters have: wolves killing the tribe's livestock and deer and elk. The tribe also requested Colorado Parks and Wildlife to limit wolf releases to the northern zone, along the Interstate 70 corridor, of its two preferred release areas...more