State officials prepare for an influx of wolves
By Gary Gerhardt, Rocky Mountain News
TRINIDAD – State Wildlife commissioners agreed Thursday that wolves soon will be migrating into Colorado and that they want to be ready.
“Right now, we don’t know of any wild-born, free-roaming wolves in the state, but we do know there are a lot of wolves in Wyoming, Idaho and even a couple dropped into Utah, and we feel it’s just a matter of time before we have to deal with them,” said Gary Skiba, the state Division of Wildlife species conservation section officer.
Skiba said it is likely that wolves, particularly young adults, may wander into Colorado and that field officers need to know how to respond to reports from the public and how to handle an animal if one is found.
Colorado is in the strange position of being divided geographically when it comes to wolves.
Officials consider wolves north of I-70 a “threatened” species and south of I-70 they are considered “endangered.”
That means Colorado authorities will manage wolves north of I-70, but federal wildlife authorities will control wolves to the south, Skiba said.
In a paper he handed out to the commissioners during a workshop here, Skiba said division personnel should have records of any known domestic sources of wolves or wolf-dog cross-breeds in their area in case one gets out.
Officers also need to know what to do if there is a wolf in the area, if a wolf is interfering with livestock, or if a wolf is killed.
Rob Edward of Sinapu, a wolf advocacy group in Boulder, said the groups he belongs to hope to work with ranchers and others to avoid the kinds of battles the issue has generated elsewhere.
But Kimmi Lewis, a rancher who lives east of Trinidad, said, “It already is contentious. Wolves are predators and the more problems we have here, the more expenses it will be for ranchers who are barely hanging on now.”
Russ George, director of the wildlife division, said it is a subject that needs to be addressed, but he doesn’t believe it should be done in a hurry.
“I don’t know if wolves will come here in a year, five years or 10 years,” he said. “But I think we should start a methodical approach to handling the situation when it does arrive.”