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.

The area includes large swaths of U.S. Forest Service land. But the plan stated the state wildlife agency doesn't have the staffing or financial resources to undertake the lengthy National Environmental Policy Act compliance required to release wolves on federal land and still meet Colorado voter-approved Proposition 114's mandate to reintroduce wolves by the end of 2023.

These areas within the targeted oval are where wolves are most likely to be released

In announcing the draft wolf recovery plan, state wildlife officials said specific release locations will not be made public, but that officials will hold meetings with local landowners before releasing wolves.

But likely release sites within the oval, where all releases will occur in 2023, can be narrowed given release site parameters.

Two likely areas within the oval include lower elevations near the Holy Cross Wilderness south of Vail, or in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness south of Aspen, according to area ranchers and members of the state's wolf Stakeholders Advisory Group. A third option could be the Gunnison and Grand Mesa national forests southwest of Carbondale.

The ovals were selected from a social-ecological modeling map study the state wildlife agency is relying on to determine wolf release sites. The map is largely based on abundance of prey (mainly elk), number of livestock, remoteness and social acceptance.

The primary oval includes wolf-friendly Summit and Pitkin counties, two of five counties west of the Continental Divide that voted in favor of the narrowly passed ballot initiative to mandate reintroduction. State wildlife officials are leaning heavily on social acceptability of release sites to avoid or minimize conflict, namely with livestock.

Ginny Harrington, who ranches near Carbondale with her husband, believes those two wilderness areas likely are release locations. However, she isn't sure Colorado Parks and Wildlife can find willing landowners despite the favorable vote in Summit and Pitkin counties.

"Holy Cross Cattlemen's Association has more than 100 members in Garfield, Pitkin and Eagle counties and I don't believe any of our members are jumping up and down to bring them here,'' said Harrington, who is the association's membership chair. "And other landowners have horses, and I can't picture they would like having wolves released on their properties.''

She said the state wildlife agency has not met with the association regarding wolf release sites, but said the association has a meeting scheduled Jan. 21 to help educate members on how to protect their cattle. She hopes Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials will attend the meeting.

Deal pointed out that Aspen-area residents may have voted in favor of reintroduction, but ranchers in the area did not.

"I know CPW is on high alert with regard to relationships with landowners,'' Deal said. "I understand for not being transparent with specific release sites, but it could create a lot of big problems. They need to make sure livestock producers know so we can take proactive measures. We don't want to end up with a Gittleson situation.''

Don Gittleson is the rancher north of Walden who has had five confirmed wolf depredations, half of the state's total kills, over the past year. Those came from a pack with two wolves that migrated into the state from Wyoming and in 2021 had a litter of six pups, the first believed born in Colorado since the early 1940s.

Colorado wolves:Meeker cattle deaths remain unsolved mystery to Colorado wildlife and livestock experts

Pros and cons of the preferred oval's release sites

Matt Barnes, a member of the state's Stakeholders Advisory Group, said the best prey base for the wolves is in the Flat Tops Wilderness area in the northern part of the preferred oval. However, that area also is near the three counties most opposed to reintroduction: Rio Blanco (89% opposed), Jackson (87% opposed) and Moffat (84% opposed).

"If I were CPW, I would make sure at least some are released in Pitkin and Summit counties rather than counties that voted against the reintroduction,'' he said. "Middle Park and around Meeker and Craig are going to be the most hostile areas but offer the best habitat. We are going to have to find some way to meet people halfway.''

The northern section of the preferred oval is separated from the southern half by Interstate 70. A young wolf wearing a radio collar that migrated into Colorado from near Yellowstone National Park was struck and killed by a vehicle on I-70 near Idaho Springs in 2004.

Jonathan Proctor is a member of the Stakeholders Advisory Group and director of Rockies and Plains Program for Defenders of Wildlife. He said I-70 should not be considered a barrier for wolf release sites.

"Highways are barriers, but wolves are pretty adaptable to humans and other interstates in the northern Rocky Mountains have not been barriers to wolf movement," he said. "Keeping release sites in Colorado's mountains as far from state boundaries as possible is a good idea to improve the chances of wolves, but they will set up shop wherever they find a good spot."

The draft plan states it would not release wolves within 60 miles of state or tribal boundaries.

Releasing wolves north of I-70 could mean wolves disperse north into Wyoming, which — along with Idaho and Montana — is among the plan's preferred states to provide the reintroduced wolves. The core of that area is approximately 70 miles from Wyoming. The western part of the Gunnison and Grand Mesa national forests is about 60 miles from Utah.

There are scant parcels of state land in the southern section of the preferred oval, but more north of I-70.

The Holy Cross and Maroon Bells-Snowmass wilderness areas are farther from state and tribal boundaries and don't contain as much livestock as the northern section. Those areas don't rank as high in elk population as the northern section but have ample prey, according to the plan. The wilderness area includes more high mountain terrain, which is not preferred by wolves, and also contains more recreation, including several ski resorts, than the north section.

Proctor said no matter where wolves are released, it will take a coordinated effort from both sides of the wolf issue for the reintroduction to be a success.

"The release of wolves is the easiest part because they will do well,'' he said. "By the far hardest part is good management, human tolerance and reducing the few impacts the wolves will have on livestock.''

More: Colorado wolvesWolves were once an option to reduce Rocky Mountain National Park's popular elk herd

Colorado wolf restoration and management plan timeline

Public meetings will be held:

• Jan. 19: Colorado Springs, 8 a.m.

• Jan. 25: Gunnison, 8 a.m.

• Feb. 7: Rifle, 8 a.m.

• Feb. 16: Virtual via Zoom, 5:30 p.m.

• Feb. 22: Denver, 8 a.m.

• April 6: Colorado Parks and Wildlife set to present final plan to Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission

• May 3-4: Commission set to take final vote on the plan

Wolf background: cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/CON-Wolf-Management.aspx

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Here's where Colorado's reintroduced wolves are likely to be released