RMEF Warns of Colorado Wolf Reintroduction Ballot Initiative

[def90]

The CPW is going to deny the presence of wolves as long as possible because once they admit that they are here the state will then have to come up with management plans, environmental impact statements, laws and everything else that comes with having a protected species within your state.

No different than all of the states that claim that they have no mountain lions even though its obvious they do.

[Irving]

Weird that they'd post pictures of a wolf on their instagram page if they're going to deny it.

What states deny that they have mountain lions? Are mountain lions a protected species?

[def90]

The current story with CPW is that “we dont have any wolves but every once in a while a wolf crosses the border from Wyoming, isn’t that neat?” Anyone in Steamboat will tell you that if you camp north of town in the Mt Zirkel Wilderness Area that you will hear wolves.

As for mountain lions, Minnesota (my home state) has continued to deny that they have any mountain lions yet they have been photographed on a regular basis there ever since the late 80s. Are they a protected species? In some states like California and the current push by some groups here I would say yes to a point. They may not be protected per say but if a state that does not have them determines that they are there then they still have to come up with all the regulations and management procedures that come with it. A state strapped for cash doesn’t want to hire additional staff that would be needed to do regular species counts and deal with the issue when they can deny they exist and if a farmer or anyone else has to kill one they can say well isnt that odd, it must have walked here from somewhere else.

[Gman]

I think it's pretty cool that they're coming back to their natural environment. If they've documented a couple, you know there have to be more.

From what I've read, wolves help limit Chronic Wasting Disease. Apparently the disease leads to elk making poor decisions when being pursued by wolves which results in them being killed and eaten. The healthy elk survive.

ETA: Here's a couple of articles on the subject;
Colorado Public Radio - Is The Fight Against Chronic Wasting Disease Another Argument For Wolf Reintroduction?

Public News Service - Predators: Possible Allies in Fight Against Chronic Wasting Disease?

December 10, 2018
HELENA, Mont. – Could wolves and other large predators be border guards in the fight against Chronic Wasting Disease?

One biologist believes so, as CWD, an infectious neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose populations, spreads in the Mountain West.

Biologist Gary Wolfe, a former Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioner, says large predators such as wolves have an innate ability to sense disease in prey populations.

He says halting recreational hunting of large predators like cougars or wolves in areas with emerging CWD outbreaks could curb the disease.

"I think it'd be worthwhile to curtail the recreational hunting for those large predators if, at the same time, you're trying to address a[n] emerging outbreak of Chronic Wasting Disease and see whether or not those large predators could assist in containing that disease," he states.

Wolfe says a study on mountain lions found they selectively prey on CWD-infected mule deer, showing that predators likely would target diseased animals.

But he adds that there would be major pushback from hunters if recreational hunting were cut back.

Currently, the main approach for containing the disease in many states is recreational deer hunts in areas where CWD has been identified to reduce the deer population and its chance of spreading.

Wolfe says the fact that predators tend to sniff out the weakest prey, and also hunt around the clock, would make them better candidates for selecting infected animals.

"Those predators can be more effective at taking out weakened animals from the population than the hunter will be by randomly taking animals out of the population," he states.

Wolfe says there's some evidence that wolves might already be helping prevent CWD's spread.

He says if you place a map of wolf population distribution over areas where the disease has been detected in the Mountain West, you'll find there's very little overlap.

"That's circumstantial evidence, but to me that's a piece of circumstantial evidence that says that wolf predation can help slow the spread of the disease," he states.

Removing a top predator from the ecosystem can lead to other problems with animal populations. Yellowstone is seeing a comeback in the beaver population. The overpopulation of elk was apparently destroying the young trees that beavers use for food due to over-grazing.

[TRnCO]

there's been hundreds of wolf sightings in Colo. over the years, just very few with documented pics. to verify.
in 2004 a wolf was killed on I-70
in 2007 a trail camera captured a wolf on image
2009 a dead wolf was found near Rifle
2015 a wolf was killed by a coyote hunter
2019 there have been to sightings verified with pics.

They know they are here, we know they are here, so why push for reintroduction when the wolves are doing it on their own?

[Irving]

Seems that would be the easiest way, if it would shut up all the whiners who oppose introduction to start. People forget that we had to reintroduce elk to Colorado (and I think deer), but no one ever bitches about that.

[Gman]

Wolf seen in Jackson County confirmed to be from Wyoming pack

JACKSON COUNTY, Colo. — A wolf recently seen in Jackson County and captured on video came from Wyoming, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said Wednesday.

Wyoming Game and Fish said it was a dispersing male gray wolf from the state.

The collared wolf is from the Snake River pack and was last recorded by transmission signals on Feb. 12 near South Pass.

On Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis released video of the wolf.

Jared Polis
✔
@GovofCO
Wolves haven’t roamed Colorado since the mid-1940’s. This past weekend, a private citizen captured a wolf on video in Jackson County in northern Colorado.

@COParksWildlife officials are working to verify the sighting as well as another in Grand County.

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Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it will monitor the area but is not pursuing the wolf’s location.

[CS1983]

Probably because elk don't kill other animals for fun, nor do they have a propensity towards attacking humans while roaming in bloodthirsty packs.

[Irving]

Probably because elk don't kill other animals for fun, nor do they have a propensity towards attacking humans while roaming in bloodthirsty packs.

People like to bring up wolves killing for fun, but every time the same one or two events is cited. Not that it matters why wolves killed something. House cats kill far more animals "for fun" than wolves, but since house cats don't kill deer or elk, no one cares. Further, when it comes to killing animals for fun, nothing even comes close to people. Doesn't seem like a strong argument when framed in that context.

Elk DO transmit Brucellosis to domestic cattle herds. I don't know, but I have a feeling that the risk to the domestic cattle industry is a much greater risk than losses from wolves. Brucellosis started in domestic cattle herds, then spread to elk. It took 75 years of management to get rid of Brucellosis in domestic cattle and I can't imagine that it was cheap, or easy. This article cites immunizing every single calf against the disease. That doesn't sound cheap, but maybe it is. Anyway, now elk spread Brucellosis back to domestic cattle, which is likely a much larger industry than hunting, but does anyone care about that aspect of elk? Maybe ranchers, but you'd never hear about it unless you went looking for the info.

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/19/12/13-0167_article

Bovine brucellosis, caused by Brucella abortus, is a global zoonotic disease primarily infecting cattle, in which it produces abortions, retained placentas, male reproductive tract lesions, arthritis, and bursitis. In humans, brucellosis can cause recurrent fever, night sweats, joint and back pain, other influenza-like symptoms, and arthritis. In animals and humans, it can persist for long periods. During the 1930s, a state–federal cooperative effort was begun to eliminate the disease from livestock in the United States. From an initial estimated prevalence in 1934 of ≈15%, with nearly 50% of cattle herds having evidence of infection (1,2), the United States now has no known infected livestock herds outside of portions of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, adjacent to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. This area, referred to as the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA), also encompasses state and federal feeding grounds in Wyoming where elk are fed during the winter. Considered a spillover disease from cattle to elk and bison, brucellosis now regularly spills back from elk to cattle. Although bison-to-cattle transmission has been demonstrated experimentally and in nature (3,4), it has not been reported in the GYA, probably because of ongoing rigorous management actions to keep cattle and bison spatially and temporally separated.

[def90]

I’m fine with wolves coming in on their own, its going to happen and it will be a good way for the prey animals here to ease in to the transition with minimal impact vs just dropping off a few packs all at once. In places where wolves have been introduced yes populations of deer and elk dropped but even the decimated elk herd of yellowstone that is often cited is now learning how to deal with wolves and the herd size has been expanding again after years of losses.

Eventually the state will be forced to publicly acknowledge that they are already here but it will be advantageous for CPW to delay that anouncement as long as possible. CPW is already complaining about lack of funds and raising license fees, just wait until they have to expand to meet all of the requirements needed to manage a protected species.