RMEF Warns of Colorado Wolf Reintroduction Ballot Initiative

[Shooter45]

MISSOULA, Mont.?The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is signaling a warning about an organized ballot initiative effort just underway in Colorado seeking to forcibly introduce gray wolves into the state.

?To be clear, RMEF strongly opposes the forced introduction of gray wolves to Colorado,? said Kyle Weaver, RMEF president and CEO. ?We have witnessed 20 plus years of lies and litigation in the Northern Rockies concerning wolves. This Colorado effort is driven by the same groups using the same tactics to accomplish their agenda.?

In the Northern Rockies, initial recovery goals were established and agreed upon for the introduction of gray wolves that took place in 1995-96. Those goals were reached in 2002 but final delisting did not occur in Idaho and Montana until a congressional fix in 2011. Wyoming did not receive the ultimate ability to manage wolves until 2017. Animal rights and environment extremist groups used litigation and propaganda to delay the delisting time after time. (Scroll down to view a full listing of lawsuits and a timeline.)

Fortunately, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is already on record in opposition to a forced reintroduction. CPW has a wolf management plan in place and is prepared to effectively manage the already occurring natural colonization of wolves to Colorado. The ballot initiative is nothing more than a propaganda and fundraising-based effort by environmental extremists.

?A forced introduction of wolves to Colorado would cost untold amounts of taxpayer dollars, redirect already limited wildlife management resources and would have a significant negative economic impact to the state,? said Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer. ?In Colorado, you are dealing with about a third of the land mass of the Northern Rockies? states but almost double the human population. A forced reintroduction would trigger the potential for real issues in the state.?

In addition, elk populations in southwest Colorado are already struggling. Researchers are working to find the cause of poor calf recruitment and low elk numbers. A forced reintroduction of wolves would be catastrophic to this work and the established elk and deer herds in the area.

Environmental groups continue to claim wolf reintroduction would ?restore natural balance,? yet science shows that is anything but a given. Research also directly disputes the assumption that reintroducing wolves trigger what is termed trophic cascade or that the wolf?s presence automatically benefits biodiversity.

?It is one thing if wolves naturally return to Colorado, but it is something completely different if they are artificially placed on the landscape to complicate a system that is already complicated by human population and development,? added Weaver.


https://elknetwork.com/rmef-warns-of...M4j8vXQOo3oaW0

[Irving]

Would not destroy hunting in Colorado. This is a bunch of BS hysteria.

[Little Dutch]

I'm not convinced that introducing wolves to CO is going to be the disaster that some are claiming. I'm not a farmer, but I do have some horses I'd be mildly concerned about. I also have neighbors with rifles that don't tolerate predators too well, so it's probably a moot point.

I heard they were pissed that we forcibly reintroduced Moose in CO too...
https://cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Page...ing2019-3.aspx

[def90]

Yeah, its my understanding that when wolves were initially introduced in to yellowstone they saw a drop in Elk numbers but over the years as Elk learned how to deal with wolves that there was once again an upward trend in Elk populations.

I think the natural progression of wolves in to the state is going to happen and would be the best as a slow build up would allow the local deer and elk to naturally respond in a way that wouldnt be a total shock to the system.

In the end I wonder more about where this ultimately leads in the long game as an argument by the side that wants introduction as a way to reduce hunting as they are currently going for an initiative to end cat hunting in the state. I could see them using the natural balance argument to limit hunting and ultimately end it for all species involved.

[Shooter45]

Have you been up to Yellowstone recently and seen the elk or moose? They're nearly non existent now.

[Irving]

Have you been up to Yellowstone recently and seen the elk or moose? They're nearly non existent now.

They might not be where people are, but I doubt they're gone. There will always be an adjustment period when a predator is reintroduced, but it won't last forever. It didn't help that the elk and moose in Yellowstone aren't allowed to be hunted so knew they could just lounge around by the visitor centers and have less contact with predators.

[Irving]

Further, while wildlife extremist groups DO hold stuff up in court in bullshit ways, and DO want to end all hunting, that is in no way an excuse to prevent restoring all of the wildlife back to the state.

Maybe some bills about hunting and eating all the wild horses in Colorado should be presented and give the animal people something else to concentrate on.

[davsel]

Didn't realize there were so many with Wildlife Management degrees on this site.

[Irving]

Site is going to be a pretty boring place since we can't discuss things outside of our degrees.

[Jer]

I don't have a degree so maybe that qualifier wouldn't be all bad for the site.