Oregon confirms it will supply Colorado with wolves as early as December

Miles Blumhardt, Fort Collins Coloradoan
Updated ·3 min read
1

Oregon has become the first state to officially agree to supply Colorado with gray wolves for its ballot-mandated reintroduction.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced Friday a one-year agreement with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for up to 10 gray wolves, which will be captured and translocated between December 2023 and March 2024. Monday, the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho told the Coloradoan it also will provide wolves to Colorado, possibly as soon as December, though no formal agreement has been reached.

"We are grateful to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for working with our agency on this critical next step in reintroducing gray wolves in the state,'' Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis said in a news release. "This agreement will help ensure Colorado Parks and Wildlife can meet its statutory mandate to begin releasing wolves in Colorado by December 31, 2023."

Here's how the capture and release of Oregon wolves to Colorado will work

  • Colorado Parks and Wildlife will begin capture operations in December with the assistance of its Oregon counterpart.

  • The wolves will come from northeast Oregon, where wolves are most abundant in the state and where removal of 10 wolves will not impact any conservation goals, according to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Curt Melcher.

  • Colorado Parks and Wildlife will be responsible for all costs associated with capture and transport of wolves.

  • Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff will work with contracted helicopter crews and spotter planes to capture wolves.

  • Wolves will be tested and treated for disease at the source sites.

  • Collars will be placed on wolves and physical measurements will be done in the field in Oregon.

  • Wolves will be crated in sturdy aluminum crates and transported to Colorado either by truck or airplane.

  • Animals with major injuries — those suffering several broken canines, missing eyes, fractured or missing limbs, mange or lice infection — will not be chosen for reintroduction.

  • Colorado Parks and Wildlife will make efforts to transplant wolves that have not been involved in repeated depredations.

  • The wolves will be released at select sites west of the Continental Divide as soon as possible.

  • Colorado Parks and Wildlife will aim to capture and reintroduce an equal number of males and females, with the majority of animals in the 1- to 5-year-old range, which is the age wolves typically disperse from the pack they were born in.

Pressure was mounting for Colorado to find wolves

Before this week, there was growing concern Colorado would not secure wolves to reintroduce by the end of this year.

Per its recovery plan, Colorado's preferred states to secure wolves were Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. But those states refused to supply wolves to the state.

Washington has said it may provide wolves to Colorado but can't before the end of this year.

Of Colorado's potential source states, Oregon has the lowest population with 178 wolves at the end of 2022.

"Oregon has a long history of helping other states meet their conservation goals by providing animals for translocation efforts," Melcher said in the release. "Some of our wildlife populations were also restored thanks to other states doing the same for us, including Rocky Mountain elk, bighorn sheep and Rocky Mountain goat."

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado finally has secured its wolf source; Oregon steps up