Delisting wolves is a no brainer

Although the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the Pet and Livestock Protecting Act that would delist gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act, there is no guarantee that it will pass the Senate and be signed into law by President Trump.

That means that Colorado farmers and ranchers in Routt, Rio Blanco, Eagle, Jackson, Larimer, Grand, Summit, Gilpin, Clear Creek, Park, Lake, Chaffee, Gunnison, Garfield, Saguache, Rio Grande and Conejos counties — where the latest map from Colorado Parks and Wildlife shows wolf activity — can expect many more sleepless nights guarding their livestock.

The latest wolf news in Colorado occurred when wolf 2403 wandered into New Mexico and was returned to Colorado to protect the integrity of the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program.

This prompted the Grand County, Colo., commissioners to write a letter to Gov. Jared Polis demanding answers and accusing CPW of violating the state’s Wolf Restoration and Management Plan by returning a wolf — part of the Copper Creek pack — with a history of depredation back to Grand County.

“Wolf 2403 is a known depredator whose pack’s actions have resulted in nearly $450,000 in compensation to Grand County ranchers alone. By re-releasing 2403 back into the county where its pack had previously been removed due to chronic depredation, the state is effectively “translocating the problem” for a third time and signaling that the official management plan’s critical provisions can be ignored at will.”  

The Grand County commissioners cited “Chapter 5: Conflict Minimization and Management, Page 35: ‘The translocation of depredating wolves to a different part of the state will NOT be considered, as this is viewed as translocating the problem along with the wolves.'”

Colorado is not the only state where wolves are causing problems. In California, the wolves are killing livestock and dogs, and seem to be getting bolder in their attempts.

According to a story in the Herald and News quoting Rep. Cliff Bentz, whose Congressional district includes Klamath and Lake counties, “Livestock killings and injuries by wolves have been reported in Surprise Valley in Modoc County on the Hussa Ranch near Cedarville. According to a Facebook posting, “a pack of wolves — ones that have already savagely killed animals and guardian dogs — is on the Hussa Ranch in Surprise Valley. The herd of sheep that Nick and Shae worked so hard to build, protect, and nurture, that’s on the menu tonight, along with the neighbors’ livestock and pets. These wolves are NOT afraid of humans, or vehicles. Oh, a gunshot in the air might scare them away for a few minutes but they’ll be back. Those wolves are not going away, not as long as there’s a reliable food source.”

In states like Colorado and California there are too many people living in areas where wolves call home, which will result in more incidents as wolves and humans come into contact.

In California the presence of wolves led to a school keeping students indoors.

In advocating for passage of legislation to delist gray wolves, Rep. Doug LaMalfa, whose Congressional district includes the far northern California counties of Modoc and Siskiyou, cited recent incidents at Little Shasta Valley Elementary School in Siskiyou County, where county supervisors declared a local emergency. Wolves were seen near roads by the school, which prompted school officials to issue the following advisory: “Our staff is taking all precautions necessary to ensure student safety as we navigate this issue … We are in contact with the county wolf liaison and are expected to receive daily collared wolf information and locations to help us make the appropriate decisions and ensure safety of the students and staff,” the Herald and News reported.

It’s time to delist the gray wolf and let individual states’ wildlife officials control the populations.