The toll of Colorado's wolf war: Rancher says Grand County on edge after wolf kills

 ...Conway Farrell was a reluctant public player in the wolf depredation game until Sunday's (April 28) fifth cattle loss in 11 days to wolves. So for the first time since the depredations on his ranch began, he said it was time to play his hand, going public in a sit-down interview with the Coloradoan.

When Conway Farrell finally spoke, his raw emotions poured out.

"Yeah, I'm pissed,'' he said. "Everybody up here is getting edgy and at our wit's end. All of the headaches and stress you normally have, especially during calving season, and then to throw this all on top of it? It feels like you’re getting slapped in the face every freakin’ minute.''

...Conway Farrell gave credit to local Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers for trying to help the ranchers fend off the wolves from their herds. But added interactions with them in the small ranching town of Kremmling, population 1,500, where cattle courses its way through every fiber of this tightknit community, has grown awkward.

...In the same breath, he discredited the wildlife officers' higher-ups, most notably Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis. Farrell says he spoke to Davis on numerous occasions about removing the two released wolves killing their cattle he and other ranchers have identified by their collar number.

And Gov. Jared Polis, whose political influence, he said, has "created a disgustingly huge disconnect'' between wildlife officials and ranchers.

...He said because of the added wolf workload, in recent weeks he lost cattle to other demises indirectly related to wolves.

"By me not being able to be down here, I lost a calf that cost my family $1,800,'' he said. "Two days later I take the 2 a.m. to daylight shift watching our herd and I have a a $3,000 cow die. I'm not getting compensated for that. These are all the impacts people don't see.''...more

Ranching groups, sheriff call on Colorado to kill 2 wolves behind depredations

 

The Grand County sheriff joined ranchers and stock growers of Grand, Jackson and Larimer counties in calling on Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Parks and Wildlife to remove wolves behind recent cattle killings.

The groups are concerned that the 10 new wolves reintroduced under a voter-approved mandate are a threat to their livelihoods after a string of five Grand County depredations...

...The stock growers are pointing to various information included in the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan that says wolves with a history of chronic depredation should not be translocated and also should not be sourced from areas with chronic depredations.

...Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin also wrote to the state asking for relief.

“It is my duty as the County Sheriff to prioritize Public Safety and to address a safety lapse when I feel that we are falling short,” he wrote. “In this case, we have a clear Public Safety concern, coupled with increased concerns over private property rights and it is our obligation as leaders to do the right thing, even when the right thing isn’t always the easiest solution.”

Schroetlin requested that CPW or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “lethally remove” the two wolves allegedly killing the five calves in Grand County...more

Wyoming wolf torture case a ‘trigger’ for new Endangered Species Act lawsuit

 

Until a few weeks ago, Wayne Pacelle was undecided whether he’d join the fray of lawsuits challenging the federal government’s decision to allow western states to continue managing gray wolves. 

Then the news cycle spun toward Sublette County, where local resident Cody Roberts is accused of running down a wolf with a snowmobile on Feb. 29, capturing the critically wounded animal, taping its mouth shut, and showing it off in a bar for hours before finally killing it — actions that have thus far only earned Roberts a $250 fine.

Pacelle, a former CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, made up his mind. 

On Tuesday, Pacelle’s new employer, Washington, D.C.-based Animal Wellness Action, and five other groups notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service they intended to sue over wolf jurisdiction. 

...This wasn’t the first time the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently learned it was being sued by groups that argue Northern Rockies wolves should regain Endangered Species Act protections. The federal agency, which denied petitions to list the species in February, has already been hit with a separate lawsuit brought by groups that notified the government of their intent immediately after the no-listing decision. 

That 48-page complaint, brought on behalf of 10 western advocacy groups...more

BREAKING: Another wolf kill reported by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, this time in Jackson County

As calving season reaches its mid-point, Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported on Monday that another calf was killed by a wolf, this time in Jackson County,

Wolf tracks were found in the area, along with a dead calf with a partially consumed hindquarter. 

The state agency said there were four Wolves in the area, including from the 10 released in Grand County in December.

There are also at least two wolves that migrated into Jackson County from Wyoming several years ago. The original wolf pack has killed 16 livestock, sheep and working dogs in Jackson County...more

Colorado wolf that killed calf this week was one of reintroduced animals, wildlife officials confirm

 

One of the wolves released in Colorado in December killed a calf this week — the first verified livestock killing by one of the wolves that was part of the state’s voter-mandated reintroduction effort.

A rancher discovered the carcass on Tuesday in Grand County, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials on Wednesday confirmed the calf was killed by a wolf.

Wildlife officials initially refused to disclose whether the responsible wolf was one of the 10 released in the state in December or was one of the two wolves remaining from a pack created by animals that migrated from Wyoming in 2020...more

Mexican gray wolf numbers are on the rise in New Mexico

Mexican gray wolf numbers are on the rise in New Mexico, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announcement.

The annual Mexican gray wolf census found at least 257 of the endangered wolves in New Mexico and Arizona, up 15 from the previous year. The count shows a 6% increase in the number of Mexican gray wolves living in the Southwest.

There were 113 wolves in Arizona and 144 in New Mexico. In New Mexico, researchers found 36 wolf packs and 15 breeding pairs.

“In the aggregate, the 2023 data points out that Mexican wolf recovery has come a long way since the first release,” said Jim deVos, Arizona Game and Fish Department Mexican wolf coordinator...more

US wildlife managers have no immediate plans to capture wandering Mexican gray wolf

It’s been a long journey for one lone Mexican gray wolf — from the forests of southeastern Arizona, across the dusty high desert of central New Mexico to the edge of what is known as the Yellowstone of the Southwest.

Her paws have seen hundreds of miles now over the last five months.

Having reached Valles Caldera National Preserve in northern New Mexico, she has wandered far beyond the boundaries established along the Arizona-New Mexico border for managing the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America. The recovery area — spanning tens of thousands of square miles — is home to more than 240 of the endangered predators.

Known to biologists by her formal name of F2754, the wolf is outfitted with a GPS collar. Data collected since her release in June in the Apache National Forest in Arizona shows she has traversed more than 650 miles (1,046 kilometers).

Environmentalists have been pushing federal managers to let the wolf be, suggesting that she’s heading north toward Colorado in search of a mate. They also pointed out that previous efforts to relocate her were unsuccessful following her first attempt to head northward last winter...more

Hunter applied to receive Idaho funds to kill wolves. Ranchers say they never signed on

 

This fall, Idaho’s Wolf Depredation Control Board received a proposal to spend nearly $50,000 that would be used to kill wolves for two ranches. The proposal was attributed to John Faulkner, the owner of Faulkner Land and Livestock, and a member of the family that owns Flat Top Ranch.

Both ranches reside in Central Idaho’s Wood River Valley, near where wolves were reintroduced to the state in 1995. The proposal said the ranches would work with a predator control company to trap wolves and shoot them from a helicopter — part of a new effort to fund wolf control through contracts with agriculture producers.

The problem? Faulkner and other representatives from both ranches told the Idaho Statesman they were unaware of the proposal, did not want to contract with the board and had not agreed to partner with the predator control company.

Faulkner told the Statesman any proposal made in his name was “a bunch of bulls---.”

The person behind the application was a Nevada-based predator control contractor with a history of trapping violations. Wolf advocates said the company’s owner, Trevor Walch, stood to benefit from tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds...more

Colorado gets final go-ahead to kill wolves that kill livestock

 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized its 10(j) rule under the Endangered Species Act, designating gray wolves in Colorado as experimental, allowing the predator to be legally killed under certain circumstances.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife plans to release wolves it is obtaining from Oregon to launch its reintroduction program by mid-December, the agency said previously.

The 10(j) ruling allows for more flexibility in managing wolves throughout Colorado, including the option to kill the predators in situations where wolves are chronically depredating livestock or are caught in the act of killing livestock. The ruling accompanied wolf reintroductions in Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in the mid-1990s...more

Oregon Elk Hunter Shoots Wolf in Self-Defense

 On November 2, an elk hunter in Oregon reported that he was forced to shoot a wolf in self-defense. The hunter, whose name has not been released, was stalking elk in the eastern part of the state, near Seneca, when a wolf approached him. The animal came out from the woods in front of him at 30 yards and wouldn’t stop coming toward him. After yelling at the wolf and waving his arms in an effort to scare it off, the hunter said he had to shoot it.

The incident is still under investigation, but authorities say that the man self-reported shooting the animal. "Preliminary investigation revealed the hunter acted reasonably in shooting the wolf for personal safety,” the Oregon State Police (OSP) said in a press release. “The hunter stated he feared for his safety and fired one round, striking the wolf and killing it instantly.” Officials found that the man was only 18 yards from the wolf when he fired...more

Where Northwoods Wilderness Is Lost, Wolves Kill More Fawns

 

Any hunter worth their salt knows habitat destruction is bad for deer for a variety of reasons. These include loss of quality food sources, disruption of migratory corridors, and overcrowding on nearby remaining habitat. But a collaborative research effort involving the University of Minnesota, Northern Michigan University, the University of Manitoba, Voyageurs National Park, and the Voyageurs Wolf Project has recently published new evidence that human alterations to forested ecosystems might also tip the scales in favor of one of a whitetail’s biggest predators.

The study, published in the October issue of research journal Ecological Applications, found that wolves prey on more whitetail fawns in areas where humans have impacted historically forested landscapes. Areas with clear-cuts, recently constructed roads and trails, urban sprawl, new human infrastructure, and other anthropogenic changes actually seem to create hotbeds for deer. And in the Upper Midwest where wolf populations are strong, wherever deer go, their canine predators aren’t far behind...MORE

HOW TO SAVE YELLOWSTONE’S WOLVES

 IF YOU EVER plan to dart a wild wolf sprinting over a snow-covered mountain from a low-flying helicopter, there are a few things you need to know. The wolf should be running away, and you should be aiming for the back or butt. Never take a shot at a wolf that’s facing you. The risk of injuring the animal with a dart to the face is too high. Also, a dart shoots hard but it’s not a bullet; you need to loft your shot. Try to keep the chase under a quarter mile. Push a distressed wolf much farther and you’re being cruel. Finally, while you’re leaning out over the helicopter’s landing skids focusing on the wolf, don’t forget the treetops rushing by under your feet. If you get snagged, you’re done.

...When future historians sit down to tell the story of how wolves regained a foothold in the United States after near total annihilation, they will find many names. Few, if any, are likely to surface as often as Doug Smith. For more than a quarter century, Smith was the face of one of the most historic and controversial government conservation initiatives of all time. In November, he retired.

...With its 2023 legislative session now underway, Montana’s new GOP supermajority remains intent on dramatically slashing the state’s wolf population with an array of highly controversial and recently legalized hunting and trapping methods. Many of the West’s most respected wildlife biologists have spoken out at what they see as a politicized wave of “anti-predator hysteria” sweeping the region. Meanwhile, mass habitat loss continues to fuel biodiversity loss at a staggering pace, leaving national parks like Yellowstone among the only places on Earth where large predators like wolves are both protected and studied in depth.

Notice that rural dwellers and their allies are guilty of "anti-predator hysteria", They, on the other hand, speak of "dramatically slashing" budgets, "highly controversial' hunting and trappong, bioveresity loss at a "staggering pace".

I believe they have us beat on the hysteria thing.

Here's where Colorado's reintroduced wolves are most likely to be released

 The joke by state wildlife officials surrounding the contentious issue of where in Colorado wolves will be released is as much to ease tension among ranchers as it is based on fact: Where wolves are released is not where wolves will end up.

Reintroductions in the northern Rocky Mountains in the mid-1990s proved that, with wolves wandering an average of 50 miles from their release sites.

It's that fact wildlife officials are trying to impress upon ranchers to ease one of their biggest concerns as the clock ticks on wolves being reintroduced into areas west of the Continental Divide by the end of this year.

"CPW (Colorado Parks and Wildlife) has joked you should want them to be released on your property,'' said Renee Deal, a member of the agency's wolf Stakeholder Advisory Group and fourth-generation rancher near Somerset. "But I'm not sure how you can look at where they want to release wolves and not worry about it.''

Deal said she is not surprised that her family's sheep ranch is located near where the state wildlife agency will likely make its initial wolf release next winter. The ranch is located on the edge of an oval identified by the agency as its preferred release area. That oval roughly includes the rugged mountains and lush valleys between Rifle, Aspen, Silverthorne and Kremmling. A secondary oval is located directly south of the preferred oval.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife said when unveiling its draft wolf recovery plan in December that release sites likely will focus on state and private land where there are willing owners...more

Gray Wolf Relocated to Ted Turner’s NM Ranch Found Dead

 Environmentalists are pushing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to do more to protect Mexican gray wolves after one of the endangered predators was found dead in southwestern New Mexico.

The Western Watersheds Project is among the groups that have been critical of the agency’s management of wolves in New Mexico and Arizona, saying illegal killings continue to hamper the population. However, the Fish and Wildlife Service says there have been fewer wolves found dead this year than in previous years.

The agency also pointed to a revised recovery plan for the wolf that was released in early October. The agency was under a court order to revamp the plan to address the threat of human-caused mortality as one of the ways to increase survivability for wolves in the wild.

Environmentalists described the male wolf recently found dead near Winston as one of the most genetically-valuable Mexican wolves in the wild. It had been released in 2018 after being born in captivity and then cross-fostered into a wild wolf den as part of an effort to increase genetic diversity...MORE

With mystery around Colorado wolves still unsolved, rancher tries a new deterrent: longhorns

 

This time last year, North Park rancher Don Gittleson's gut instinct told him, for the first time in his decades of ranching in Colorado, wolf trouble was brewing.

He and other area ranchers had sporadically seen lone wolves over the previous two years. But in September 2021, he started seeing six wolf pups tag along with their parents, who naturally migrated into the state and produced the first wolf pups born in Colorado in 80 years.

Chris Chirichetti II, a traveling nurse living in Greeley, confirmed the pups with a video of the wolfpack running through sagebrush flats northeast of Walden on Sept. 19 while archery hunting.

Gittleson knew then it was game on.

...Then, over the winter months, Gittleson had four cows and a calf killed by wolves, Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed. The first kills occurred in December, when Gittleson lost two cows and a neighbor lost two working cattle dogs. But there hasn't been a confirmed wolf kill of livestock since late May.

...Gittleson has collared cows with bells, brought in burros, strung miles of fladry, erected strobe lights and incorporated night riders, all in an effort to deter wolves from killing more of his cattle.

Those nonlethal methods have worked to varying degrees.His latest deterrent attempt might raise eyebrows: longhorn cattle.

Gittleson said he started researching other ways to keep wolves at bay and read longhorn cattle have been used to steer predators away from cattle, including accounts of longhorn steers with their massive horns charging wolves, coyotes and even bears.

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Montana reestablishes wolf hunting quotas outside Yellowstone National Park

 

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted new wolf hunting regulations at its meeting this week in Helena, with new special consideration for the hunting of wolves near Yellowstone National Park.

On Thursday, the Commission voted to do away with the state’s 18 current Wolf Management Units (WMU). This coming hunting season wolves will now be managed in seven regional trapping units and one WMU. The new WMU 313 is a combination of the old WMU 313 and 316, both of which border the north side of Yellowstone.

Hard harvest quotas were set for each trapping district totaling 450 wolves combined. Independent of the trapping districts, a quota of six wolves was set for the new WMU 313. FWP had recommended a quota of 10 for the new WMU, but the commission said they lowered that number to six based on input from the National Parks and the public... MORE

Groups File Petition to Restore Endangered Status for Wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming

 A collection of environmental groups filed a new petition Tuesday asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to instate immediate federal protections for Northern Rockies wolves, saying aggressive management measures in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming amount to the “unlimited and unregulated taking of wolves” and run counter to a commitment the agency made in 2009 when it lifted federal protections from Northern Rockies wolves.

“Idaho’s new law allows hunters, trappers and private contractors to kill wolves year-round, at any age and with no limits. Montana’s new rules allow the killing (of) approximately 85 percent of the wolf population and has a disproportionate impact to wolves from Yellowstone National Park, where they are habituated to seeing people almost daily and have little to no fear associated with humans, when they leave the protection of the park boundary,” the petition reads...MORE

Entire wolf pack found poisoned to death in Oregon. Police have ‘exhausted’ all leads

 

At least 8 wolves, including an entire wolf pack, have been fatally poisoned in Oregon over the last year, and investigators are struggling to find whoever is responsible.

Months after launching an investigation, Oregon State Police say they’ve “exhausted all leads.”

In a Dec. 2 release, the OSP said it is “seeking public assistance in locating the person or persons” behind the poisonings.

The situation began in early 2021.In eastern Oregon, on Feb. 9, troopers with the OSP’s Fish and Wildlife Division went to investigate a collared gray wolf presumed dead by wildlife officials tracking the animal, according to the release. They presumed correctly.

Troopers found the wolf, along with two other males and two females — all five members of the Catherine Pack — laying lifeless in the snow. The pack died in Union County, southeast of Mount Harris, the release said...MORE

More protections for Mexican wolf proposed

 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing several changes to how the agency manages endangered Mexican wolves.

The proposal announced Wednesday would remove population limits, boost the number of wolf pups released into the wild each year, and restrict permits issued to livestock owners or state game agencies that allow killing of wolves if the animals prey on cattle, elk or deer.

Tracy Melbihess, Fish and Wildlife’s Mexican wolf policy coordinator, said the changes would remove the upper population limit of 325 wolves in the agency’s management area south of Interstate 40 in New Mexico and Arizona.

“It’s intended to ensure that we have a robust population that has a really low risk of extinction,” Melbihess said...MORE

Biden Backs The End Of Protections For Wolves. But Worries About Hunting Grow

President Joe Biden's administration is sticking by the decision under former President Donald Trump to lift protections for gray wolves across most of the U.S. But a top federal wildlife official on Friday told The Associated Press there is growing concern over aggressive wolf hunting seasons adopted for the predators in the western Great Lakes and northern Rocky Mountains. Wolves under federal protection made a remarkable rebound in parts of the U.S. over the past several decades, after being driven from the landscape by excessive hunting and trapping in the early 1900s. States took over wolf management last decade in the Northern Rockies and in January for the remainder of the Lower 48 states, including the Great Lakes and Pacific Northwest. The removal of Endangered Species Act protections had been in the works for years and was the right thing to do when finalized in Trump's last days, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Assistant Director for Ecological Services Gary Frazer told AP. On Friday, attorneys for the administration asked a federal judge in California to reject a lawsuit from wildlife advocates that seeks to restore protections, signaling the conclusion of Biden's promise on his first day in office to review the Trump move...MORE