Colorado officials hear options on restoring gray wolves

By JAMES ANDERSON
Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — While gray wolves are under pressure from a federal delisting and increased hunting in some Rocky Mountain states, Colorado wildlife officials are considering detailed options for implementing a voter-approved reintroduction of the species. Thursday’s presentation by a task force to Colorado Parks and Wildlife commissioners comes as advocacy groups fight to restore federal protections for wolves and hunting policies in some states, including Idaho and Montana, have taken an aggressive turn. Colorado voters in 2020 narrowly approved a ballot initiative to reintroduce wolves on public lands in the sparsely populated Western Slope, where opposition to the idea is strongest. The species was hunted to extinction in Colorado by the 1940s.